Warm Legume Salad

From ‘5 Ingredients 10 Minutes’ Print Book page 175

When the days draw shorter, I tend to favour warm salads for lunches and light dinners. Pretty much it’s all about heating up the ‘star’ ingredients while you make a dressing.

per person:
1/2 tablespoon acid
1/2 can legumes, drained
handful cooked protein
small handful highlight ingredient, optional
large handful salad leaves

1. Combine acid with 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a salad bowl. Season.

2. Meanwhile warm lentils, protein and possibly the highlight ingredient in a small frying pan on a medium heat. You may need to add a little oil.

3. Toss leaves in the dressing then toss in the warm ingredients. Top with highlight ingredient, if if wasn’t added earlier.

variations

acid– Sherry vinegar, rice wine vinegar, lemon juice, lime juice, red/white wine vinegar, champargne vinegar.

legumes – butter beans, cannellini beans, borlotti beans, chickpeas, lentils, red kidney beans. Pretty much any canned legume or home cooked ones.

highlight ingredient to warm – roast beets, roast sweet potato, roast pumpkin, cooked mushrooms, grilled peppers, grilled eggplant.

highlight ingredient to add cold – nuts, finely sliced red onion chopped chilli, curry powder, smoked paprika, tabasco sauce, ground cumin, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, coriander (cilantro), basil, mint, parsley, oregano, chives, green onions, spring onion, thyme, pesto, hummus.

cooked protein – bacon, canned tuna, salmon, sardines, nuts, cooked chicken, smoked chicken, salami, proscuitto, cold roast meats, smoked salmon.

salad leaves – pretty much any washed salad leaves, torn into bight sized pieces if large.

leftover potential?

OK but nicer when warm.

problem solving guide

difficult to eat – next time slice the protein and highlight ingredient into smaller pieces.

too much dressing – for now just transfer the whole salad to a clean bowl, leaving behind as much dressing as you can. Toss again to rub off dressing. Next time mix the dressing up in a small jar and gradually add to the salad.

too dry – either mix up some more dressing and drizzle over OR just drizzle over some more oil and acid separately as the italians do.

too bland – season with a little more salt & pepper.