Black Bean 'n Corn Salad

I'm always amazed when something very tasty is also equally healthy. It's like a dream come true for me. And this, my friends, is one of those things.

Black beans are one of the healthiest things you can eat. I was trying to find a good recipe with black beans that is easy enough and tasty enough that I can include it in my weeknight meal rotation. I stumbled upon this and fell in love immediately. Apart from being tasty and healthy it looks like a carnival in a bowl!

Purple onion is perfect for this salad as it adds to the color, although any onion will do. I use purple onion only when it is to be eaten raw. Cooking it makes it a weird grey-green color.

Here's my version of the recipe... only slightly modified.
Recipe based on this one.

Serves 4 as a side. Though S and I devour the whole thing as a main.

You will need -

1 14-ounce can of black beans
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced (optional)
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped (optional)

For the dressing -
juice of 1 lime or lemon
1 tbsp hot sauce such as tabasco
1/2 tsp or less of the following - red chilly powder, salt and pepper

Method -

1. Drain the can of black beans. I like the sludge at the bottom of the can. It keeps the salad moist.
2. Be sure to modify the spice level to your taste. Mix everything in a large bowl.

That's it. That's the recipe. I recently made this by doubling all the quantities and took it to a potluck. At first people were wary of it because it looked too healthy, but once they tried it they totally loved it.

Delicious Kale Salad

This salad is so good, I could eat it for dessert. And I love desserts dearly. To add to that, kale is a superfood with loads of vitamin K and anti-cancer and cholesterol-lowering properties.

Here's the recipe.

Serves 4

You will need -

a small bunch kale (roughly 5-7 preferably young leaves)
2 avocados, chopped
1 apple, chopped (substitutes: other sweetish fruits such as pears, grapes)
a small handful broken candied walnuts (substitutes: pecans, almonds)
quarter onion chopped length-wise (optional)
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (you can try substituting other vinegars or lemon juice though I haven't tried it)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
black pepper
2 tsp sugar

Method -

1. Remove the thick veins of the kale leaves by folding the leaf and cutting the vein off. Then chop up the kale into bite-size pieces. Sprinkle salt over it and crumple the leaves in your hands and release. Repeat this several times. Massaging the kale this way makes it more palatable.
2. Add chopped avocado, chopped apple, walnuts, onion, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, sugar.
3. Add salt and pepper to suit your taste.
4. Toss the salad well. I try to make sure I don't completely turn the avocado into pulp because I like it when I encounter yummy avocado chunks in my salad. For that you may chop the avocados into bigger pieces.

Warm Swiss Chard with Mushrooms

This Saturday morning we went out for brunch and were pleasantly surprised to see that it’s farmers market season already! It is just January, and while the majority of the country is covered in snow, I am so glad to be living in "feels like spring all year round" Bay Area. I have to admit, it wasn't particularly warm, but it surely was sunny and pleasantly cold - good enough to shop at a farmers market!

Anyway, in my excitement of shopping fresh, locally sourced produce, I picked Swiss Rainbow Chard from one of the stalls. In the past I have made some yummy chard salads using yogurt. This time, I decided to try cooking it.

Chard is like any other greens, delicate, has an earthy flavor and generally seems like a veggie that will get along with any other fellow vegetables.  Again, I spent less than 30 min cooking this start to finish, so I’ll categorize this one as a quick fix too. However, this can’t be your main entree. 

 

Ingredients:

- 1 bunch swiss rainbow chard, cleaned chopped

- 8-9 cremini mushrooms, diced

- 3 cloves garlic, minced

- half cup onion, minced

- 2 tsp EVOO

- 3 tsp balsamic vinegar

- salt pepper to taste

How To:

Heat 1 tsp EVOO on medium low heat and add garlic. Cook until fragrant. Add swiss chard and cook until wilted. I used some chard stalks too, so i let it cook a little longer until the hard stalks were soft, but you can cook it as you like. Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat 1 tsp EVOO on medium heat. Add onion and mushroom, and let cook until onions are translucent. Add balsamic vinegar and cook until it is reduced. (4-5 mins). Pour over the swiss chard. Add salt and pepper. 

Serve warm or cold.

Leek Salad

Yesterday Shal suggested that she and I contribute to this blog together. I accepted the offer without a blink. Nice idea, isn’t it? I immediately remembered the leek that had been staring at me from our fridge for 3 days since my “Return to Bay Area” therapeutic grocery shopping! A leek salad would be a good first blog post, I thought. Here it is...

This is a really quick salad that can put together in less than 10 min., pairs well with Indian home cooked food and serves as a satisfying substitute to traditional “koshimbir”. In fact now that I think about it, it is a better accompaniment dish, than a salad. 

Leeks appear to me like cousins of spring onion, they have a delicate onion-ny flavor, and so if you want a dinner time substitute to onions, leeks are a good option. An important aspect of working with leeks is cleaning them as they grow close to the ground, they will have dirt in the green layers.
Slice the leeks lengthwise down the center and rinse under water to remove all the dirt, especially dirt between the leaves.

Here’s the recipe, adapted from here.

Ingredients:

·         1 Leek (discard the coarse outer leaves and use the tender white and light green parts), sliced thinly, crosswise .

·         1 medium sized Persian cucumber (I like persian cucumbers in this salad because of their delicate flavor), peeled, halved and sliced.

·         1 medium sized heirloom tomato, cut into small cubes.

·         0.5 cup cilantro, cut coarsley

·         1 tbsp roasted groundnut powder (optional)

·         Salt to taste

Dressing:

·         1.5 tbsp lemon juice

·         3 tbsp EVOO

·         Salt, black pepper & sugar to taste 

Mix everything in a bowl and serve.