THREE BEAN SALAD

THREE BEAN SALAD

(Suitable for Vegans)

In 2009 in Botswana, I made three bean salad for the first time when I was throwing a welcome party for my friend who was coming back from India. This friend is now my relative because her daughter is married to my son. Everybody enjoyed this dish in the party. Now it is often made in my kitchen because it tastes great and it is full of nutrition. It is considered very good because of its high protein content, and therefore great addition in a vegetarian diet. The other good thing about this recipe is that it is really low in fat though it is a little bit time consuming to make.

For vegetarians, lentils and beans are the main sources of protein. That is why I make sure that every day in one meal I make one dish of these beans or lentils. Around16 types of beans or lentils are cooked in my kitchen, I try to variate not only the lentils but also how they are cooked. Some are cooked dry, some are with added vegetables and some other preparations of mix and match are made with these lentils. A variety of sweet and savoury dishes and snacks are also made.

After making this several times, I added one more bean (chickpeas) to this recipe to increase its nutritional content and taste; now I call it four bean salad. Another thing I do when I make this salad is, I soak extra of all the beans, and use the extra left over and the water that was used to soak this to make a four bean curry which I will talk about in another blog entry.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 100 grams red kidney beans
• 100 grams black-eyed beans
• 100 grams White soya beans or broad beans
• 200 grams onion (One big)
• 200 grams tomatoes (One big)
• 4-5 green chilies (Optional)
• 1 lemon (to squeeze)
• green coriander/cilantro leaves for garnishing
• 4 Tablespoon olive oil.
• Salt and black pepper (To taste)

METHOD

• Rinse, wash and soak red kidney beans, and soybeans, separately in different bowls for 7-8 hour or overnight. Too much water is not required at the time of soaking and boiling because the beans will be dry in the salad.
• Rinse the blackeyed beans 3-4 times in water. Pressure cook them together with the soaked soya beans, with one teaspoon salt and cook for about 5 minutes after the whistle. We can boil them together because they all have the same white (cream) colour.
• Drain the water and leave it to cool; don't throw the water, it can be used later in other curries etc because it is full of nutrients.
• Now boil the red kidney beans with some salt for 5 minutes in the pressure cooker after the whistle, leave it to cool. Once cold drain the water, mix all the beans.
• Finely chop the onions, tomatoes, and green chilies, and add them to the beans. Add the olive oil, black pepper and squeeze juice from one lemon, transfer in a serving bowl, and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
• Serve at room temperature as a side dish or accompaniment. It goes great with garlic bread, toasted bread or with any soup. This can be served to 4-6 people.

 : Edited:  I am sending this recipe as my blog entry for the Tuesday Blog Hop event.

  I am also sending as my blog entry for Credit Crunch Munch event. In this recipe, I have cooked all the beans in the pressure cooker, and with Fiesta Friday, co-host Sonal and Petra, and with Funtastic Friday. and with Way wow party and Sunday Food and Fitness Party.

                                                                                                                           I am also sending this recipe for Recipe of the week event, and for Meat less monday.

And for Delicious Dish Tuesday event, and for My legume affair for February, and with Tasty Tuesday , and with Full plate Thursday party, and with Real Food Friday, and with Cook blog share