Chunky bean salad

Serves 2 as a one-dish vegetarian salad. Or serves 4 as a side dish.

Step 1 (Optional) – Cook the eggs

• If you want hard boiled eggs with the salad, set them to boil now. By the time the rest of the salad is done, they should be ready.

Step 2 – Make the dressing

• In the food processor or blender, zizz up a tin of tomatoes (including the juice).
• Add a slosh of olive oil, some “Italian” dried herbs, a little salt & some garlic (optional). Blend some more.

Step 3 – The “complete protein”

• Drain & rinse a large tin of pinto beans. (Later, we’ll cook our own). Shake off excess water. Put into a large bowl.
• Add the dressing and mix well.
• Add a couple of tablespoons of chopped crispy walnuts, brazils or macamias
• Add a couple of tablespoons of crispy sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
• The nuts and seeds are optional if you’re including the hard boiled eggs, or serving this as a side dish with meat, poultry or fish

Step 4 – The crunchy veges

• Choose some crunchy veges eg. red pepper, cucumber, radish, baby turnip, carrot.
• Roughly chop up about 2 cups. Add and mix well.

Step 5 – Finishing touches

• If you did some eggs, peel & slice or chop them, and sprinkle them over the top.
• Or you could add a little tinned salmon (Alaskan) or tuna (Skipjack or Albacore)
• But the beans, nuts and seeds make a complete protein, so the egg or fish is optional.

Variation:

You could also add your red pepper to the dressing instead of including with the veges.