Happy Canada Day!
Between Canada Day and July 4th weekend, we have officially entered BBQ and picnic season. I am not a huge BBQ lover. Mainly because grilled meat, mayonnaise covered potato salads, sour cream and onion potato chips and two liter bottles of Coke do little for me.
I also know better then to send you on your way to a typical summer BBQ with a bowl of quinoa tabouli and expect you not to be taunted for being a rabbit-food-eating-hippie. This is where the beans come in. For whatever reason, bean salads can happily cross the bridge that between man’s man BBQ’d food and healthful vegan fare.
Beans, however, are synonymous with tooting. Cooking the beans with a piece of Kombu (a seaweed) helps reduce the gas factor. I have tried to find out why this works but have come up with nothing. If you know, please share.
Here is my cooking method to reduce the fart factor.
- Soak the beans overnight (for about 12 hours)
- In the morning, drain the water and rinse thoroughly
- For every cup of beans you’ll be cooking, use 4 cups of water.
- Add a strip of Kombu (a seaweed) to the pot and bring the beans to a boil.
- Allow beans to boil for about 20 minutes and then reduce the heat to a simmer for 2-4 hours until beans are tender.
- Drain and rinse again.
My bean salad is a mix of cooked beans and lentils, some roasted veggies as well as some fresh, raw vegetables. Of course I accessorized it with a little home sprouted mung beans.
Toot-Free Sweet Potato and Mixed Bean Salad
by
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
Keywords: roast mix salad lunch entree dinner side dairy-free gluten-free low-sodium nut-free soy-free vegan vegetarian beans sweet potato July 4th whole food American summer
Ingredients (Serves 4-6)
For the Salad
- 1 cup dry beans (or 2 cups cooked, equal to 1 can) – choose whichever you like best- I went for a mix of black eyed peas, black beans and green lentils- 1/3 cup of each)
- 1 cup cucumber, cubed
- 1/2 red pepper, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 yellow pepper, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 2 Tbs Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 Tbs Parsley flakes
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro or parsley
- sprouted mung beans (or sprout of choice) to garnish
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the Dressing
- 1/4 cup flax oil
- 1/4 balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbs Dijon Mustard
- 1 tsp grated ginger
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400.
Toss together sweet potato, onion, garlic, olive oil, parsley flakes and paprika.
Lay out in roasting pan and place in oven, set for 30 minutes.
While sweet potato is roasting, rinse and drain beans and place in large mixing bowl and allow to cool.
Add in cucumber and red pepper.
Mix dressing in a jar.
Once sweet potato is lightly browned and soft without being mushy, allow to cool slightly and add to mixing bowl.
Mix in fresh parsley or cilantro.
Add dressing and toss. Sea salt and pepper to taste.
Serve immediately with sprouts on top or allow to sit in fridge to marinate.
12 responses to “Sweet Potato + Mixed Bean Salad”
GREAT BRIDGE ! love that!
We are bbq-ing this weekend too and I just thougth I should bring a something dish so I have extra insurance I have some viable options.
HOWEVER our host called me last night, (knowing I am eating more raw/veg foods) and asked if chicken was okay for me…..(thought it was sweet of her)
I just told her to make what her family loves… and I’ll enjoy the bbq too.
I hate being a party pooper, haven’t learned the fine art of handling eating at other people’s houses.
well get there!
I might give your salad a try! it looks GREAT
yes please!
minus the cucumber.
Too late- everyone already knows I’m a bunny food eating hippie. :)
I have to admit though I think people would walk by this dish at a BBQ and be a little afraid to touch it. I mean I would be all of that (I actually think it might be my lunch today) but for the my fast food, meat and potato loving family and friends not so much. :( and we wonder why we have such a horrible obesity problem!
We love all kinds of beans-and mung sprouts are an absolute fave!! Love the salad :)
Thanks for visiting my blog-you’ve got a great blog too!
Good to know! I love beans, but suffer from IBS and have to take Beano before I eat anything that will cause me gas. This STILL won’t stop it, but it makes it less painful, and I won’t give up my beans ;-)
I made a vat of pintos for refritos last night, but next time I am trying the Kombu. Does it change the flavor much?
The Kombu has no impact on the flavour at all. And there are some other enzymes you might like to try other than beano- ones with pancreatin would help.
‘Toot-Free’ — Priceless! This recipe looks tasty & healthy. What a perfect picnic dish!!
Just this morning I told my husband I wanted to cook with beans more often. And then I saw what you posted. Perfect!
Hope you had a Happy Canada Day! Great recipe to serve anyone, SAD-eater or vegan!
I love bean salad but never thought to add sweet potatoes. Made this for dinner and went back for seconds! So yummy, definately the best recipe for bean salad yet!
That looks so delicious, and of course health! I rarely sprout beans, but I guess I should make the effort more often…
Yum, looks like a nice recipe … I’ll have to give this one a try.
The seaweed works because the enzymes present in the kombu help to break down the indigestible oligosaccharides (especially raffinose) which would ordinarily cause the ‘gas factor’ as you so eloquently put it :)