So, you’ve just scarfed down a donair, indulged in a few of the Dawgfather’s “phat boyz,” and pigged out on a meatlover’s pizza. Well done, you. But now it’s time to diversify your digestive portfolio. Why not try some salad? I know what you’re thinking: all that “healthy” stuff mingling in a bowl sans animal carcasses sounds crazy, right? Wrong!
I myself am not a fan of the whole, leafy green salad thing. It brings back too many memories of the sixth grade, when my friends and I would literally eat pages out of our French textbooks to get out of doing homework (and no, this strategy will not work in your first-year calculus class, so don’t try). But back to the point–not all salads need to be leafy. So here’s an easy recipe with a slight kick that you can really sink your teeth into.
Start by rinsing the black beans and then draining the water. If you have one, a mesh strainer makes this a bit easier. Then, set aside the beans and start dicing the onion and peppers. The onion adds a nice strong flavour that really makes the salad, but if you’re not crazy about it, you can tone down the portions. Once diced, I also like to separate the chunks of red onion with a spoon before adding them, just to get an even distribution. A whole medium-sized red, green and yellow pepper will suffice for this recipe. Afterwards, simply mix everything up in a big bowl with the beans.
The dressing is equally easy. Just put everything in a cup or measuring glass and whisk it up. The great thing about this dressing–or any dressing–is that you can always tweak it to suit your tastes. If this recipe is a bit too sweet for you, add a hint of lemon or lime, or even a bit more Dijon to take the edge off. Or if you’re feeling bold, throw caution to the wind and add your own little something.
Once you have a flavour you like, pour on as much of the dressing to the salad as you see fit, and voilà! The best thing about this recipe is that it’s cheap. Assuming you have most of the dressing ingredients lying around already, I reckon the rest costs about $7. For a dish that serves at least four people, that ain’t bad. Plus, it’s vegan-friendly—kind of. Is honey vegan-friendly? Let’s just pretend like it is.
Salad:
1 can of black beans, rinsed
1/2 red onion, diced
1 cup diced red pepper
1 cup diced green pepper
1 cup diced yellow pepper
Dressing:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup honey
3-4 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp fresh basil
Hint of lime or lemon juice (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
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