Tag Archives: sprouts

cooked, main dishes, salads

Kidney Bean Salad

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Each time my taste buds come in contact with a new combination of tastes, I’m completely drawn to re-creating and further improvising on the alchemy.  Was the same case with this great salad proudly introduced by my uncle back in summer. Firstly, I made it vegan (it did contain fish) and secondly, I kept introducing ingredients that would suit – color wise and texture wise – the base of the dish made out of kidney beans. Which by means of richness makes it totally a main dish, though by means of the preparation process is as simple as a salad.

All you have to know is to give plenty of time to the boiling of the beans, so you have it tender, mingling nicely with the crisp veggies As always, pressure cooking is the best option. Also, pay attention to the juiciness of the composition as some of the ingredients – the beans and the dried tomatoes – may progressively suck in the dressing. A good moment to practice indulgence :))

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Below you have the list of ingredients, but feel free to make your own choices!

  • dried tomatoes (partially rehydrated)
  • red bell peppers
  • corn
  • red onions
  • parsley (or other greens)
  • black olives
  • olive oil
  • lemon
  • balsamic vinegar
  • ground pepper and/or coriander
  • garlic (in moderate amount)
  • sesame seeds & sprouts (optional)
raw, salads

Seasoned Lentils & Carrot Salad

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This salad is perfect when you expect more-than-just-veggies in your healthy bowl. Power to the carbs!

The main trick is not to overboil the green lentils as you would do it in a cooked dish. Test them with a fork – if they get easily squashed after being put off the fire, you’d better turn it into a soup 🙂 or try them: they shouldn’t taste like raw beans, but still keep a firm ‘al dente’ texture.

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Until the lentils get cold, you can prepare the dressing by mixing in a bowl cold pressed sunflower oil, soya sauce, lemon, grated ginger and thyme. If you love spices as much as I do, then this is the time to add some cardamom or cinnamon powder and some raisins.

The only thing left to do is to bring all ingredients together in your salad bowl. I usually use more carrots than lentils, but it goes different with each taste. I also prefer adding the onions at the very end so they don’t become too dominant.

If you’re not having the salad right away, don’t forget to check before serving how much dressing it still has – both lentils and carrots are great ‘suckers’. And to sprinkle with grated orange peel and sesame seeds!

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list of ingredients

  • green lentils – soaked overnight & lightly boiled
  • carrots
  • grated ginger
  • lemon juice
  • soya sauce
  • cold pressed sunflower oil
  • thyme (dry or fresh)
  • red or green onions
  • optional: cardamom, cinnamon, grated orange peel, raisins (or similar dried fruits), sesame seeds, sunflower sprouts

 

 

dressings, raw, salads

Go Red with Beets!

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Beets are just amazing! I remember that during my childhood it was the only vegetable I use to consider it rather awkward. Maybe because most of the times we were having it roasted and served with grated horse radish?

Anyhow, since I’ve discovered beets are to be consumed raw, it doesn’t seem I’ll get bored of them anytime soon. I love to turn it into spirals and marinate it in soya sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and thyme, like Cynthia taught me to do it at the beginning of my path. Adding sesame or hemp seeds at the end creates a pretty nice effect!

 

You can leave the beets to marinate overnight.

One of the things you should have in mind when preparing beets is that there’s no way back from red! Once you add another vegetable – either in the marinade or in the mixing – it will sooner or later become red. So instead of throwing everything into the beets salad, better leave the rest of the vegetables or greens for a side dish. Or, if you want to create a reddish coloring, choose something like cauliflower or sprouts and mix it right before serving .

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list of ingredients

  • beetroot (grated or spiraled)
  • olive oil
  • soya sauce
  • lemon juice
  • dry thyme
  • crushed garlic
  • sesame/ hemp seeds