Perfect for a warm day when you don’t want something to bog you down. This delicious kale and mixed bean salad in a lemon dressing has fresh notes from the lemon and plenty of protein from the beans!
When I think of salads, kale is not high on my list of ingredients. When wilted slightly and the cores removed, kale is an incredible ingredient! I love using a variety of beans in my salads as they each provide unique textures and flavors. The slight nuttiness of the chickpeas really pairs well with the smooth butter beans resulting in a fantastic spring salad. Tomatoes add a great pop of flavor with cucumbers adding some fresh hydration. This kale and mixed bean salad ticks all the boxes for a warm spring or summers day.
I love to make this when I can’t be bothered to spend too much time in the kitchen but I want something quick and healthy. I feel cleaner just by looking at it! It’s perfect on it’s own, with a potato salad or as a side dish to BBQ’s or pizzas.
The most fantastic part about this salad is that it is completely customizable. You could add some extra protein with some seitan chunks. Add some wholegrain mustard into the sauce. The combinations are endless! If you did want to try your hand at making some seitan, I have a super simple recipe for basic seitan here. Let me know if you’ve made it and enjoyed it in the comments!
Kale & Bean Salad
Equipment
- A large mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 80 g Kale
- 160 g Cherry Tomatoes approx 14
- 1 tin Butter Beans (drained) 240g
- 1 tin Chickpeas (drained) 240g
- 90 g Cucumber
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Boil a kettle with 1 litre of water
- Wash and prepare the kale (I like to remove the stalks) and add to the mixing bowl
- With the kale in a bowl, pour over the boiled water and press down any kale with a spoon. Allow to sit for up to 5 minutes
- While the kale is blanching, quarter the tomatoes and cut the cucumber into cubes
- Drain the kale and keep it in the bowl
- Add the beans, chickpeas, tomatoes and cucumber to the bowl
- Pour over the lemon juice and olive oil and toss with a spoon, coating everything evenly
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, add in more lemon juice if desired
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutritional Information:
Per serving:
Calories – 396
Carbs -45.1g
Fat – 17g
Protein – 17g
