When I stepped off the boat onto American soil, apart from other epiphanies that made themselves known unto me, the most alarming was that a salad could be a full meal. Once the light bulb near the space above my head dimmed, I quickly began ordering Caesar salads, Chicken Taco salads, and Jamaican Jerk salads. Chicken or Fish was the common factor in these salads, making them full meals but rendering them un-vegetarian. So in order to make a protein-enhanced vegetarian salad, here’s my cold summer salad with red kidney beans.
Enjoy, oye!
The Bean n’ Green Summer Special is served cold on fresh cabbage leaves
Recipe:
Soak about half a cup of red kidney beans in water for 15 minutes and then cook them in a pressure cooker or a boiler until they are semi-soft. While they’re cooking, peel the onion, separating its layers and dice into large square pieces.
In a pan, add a little olive oil and sauté the onions. While the onions are cooking, dice the green bell pepper, carrot and baby corn into cap-sized pieces. Feel free to add other veggies like broccoli, yellow and red peppers, tomatoes and courgettes to the mix as well.
When the onion has softened and achieved the transparent look, add the bell pepper first, and then the carrots followed by the baby corn to the pan. After one minute, add half a cup of water, cover the pan with a lid, and cook on low to medium flame to soften and steam the veggies.
In another bowl, add 2 tablespoons of honey, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 3 teaspoons of ground mustard seeds (you can also use 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard paste) and salt and pepper to taste. Add these ingredients to 1/2 a cup of coriander (or parsley) and grind it into a paste.
Add the dressing to the sautéed veggies in the pan. Cook for about a minutes and add the kidney beans. This mixture then needs to sit in the fridge for 2–3 hours or in the freezer for ½ an hour.
About fifteen minutes before serving, gently remove fresh cabbage leaves and wash them in salt water. This will kill the germs and make the leaves crunchier. You can line a salad bowl with cabbage leaves and spoon the cold veggie-bean mixture in or you can divide the mixture, spoon it onto each leaf, fold and serve in the PF Chang’s istyle.
If you are serving it in a salad bowl, you can add more coriander as a garnish. The salad looks lovely either way and what’s more, it tastes better!
HealthWise
Red Kidney Beans are a fibre-rich food providing virtually fat-free protein. They are especially beneficial for people battling diabetes or those who want to achieve weight loss since the high fibre content in these beans reduces the urge to snack or feel hungry right after a meal. They also reduce cholesterol, high blood pressure and risk for heart attacks because of their folate and magnesium content. They are also a good source of minerals like iron, phosphorous and molybdenum.
Mustard seeds are not only supposed to be cooling for the body, but also a good source of omega three fatty acids, magnesium, fibre, typtophan and selenium. Translation: mustard seeds alleviate asthma, arthritis and skin allergies and are believed to prevent cancer. These seeds are also useful during menopause and help lowering blood pressure and preventing heart attacks.
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