white bean salad

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White Bean Salad

by Dr Antigone Kouris-Blazos

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

1 cup dry haricot beans soaked in 3 cups water and couple of teaspoons of salt
2 litres cold water
20 pitted olives (e.g kalamata)
2 large red capsicums
1 medium bunch of flat leaved parsley
3 spring onions
2 cloves garlic, crushed
iodised salt (amount according to taste)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (end of cooking)
extra virgin olive oil (about 1/4 cup or as much as desired)
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Method

Soak dry beans overnight in 3 cups water and salt. Rinse beans after soaking (do not re-use the soaking water). Beans should be larger in size after soaking.
Place beans in 2 litres of cold water and put on low heat on stove and simmer for about one hour or until soft. Drain in a colander and allow to cool. Place in salad bowl.
Chop parlsey (finely), thinly slice pitted olives and spring onions and crush garlic. Place in a salad bowl.
Cut red capsicums in half. Place under a hot grill. Grill the inside surface of the capsicum till soft. Turn over and grill the outside surface of the capsicum till the top skin turns black and starts to bubble. Remove from grill and allow to cool. Remove burnt skin by peeling it away to reveal soft delicious red capsicum flesh.
Chop the flesh and add to salad bowl.
PS: you can purchase char grilled capsicum from the deli section of the supermarket; bottled/canned grilled capsicum is also available; these are convenient but more expensive alternatives than grilling the capsicum yourself!
Add oil, vinegar, salt, oregano to ingredients in salad bowl and mix well.

Accompaniments: grainy bread, reduced fat fetta, sardines or omelette, wine

How many times a week should I have legume dishes?
At least one legume dish a week is desirable. This recommendation is based on the frequency of intake of long-lived populations in the Mediterranean and in Asia. More than this weekly frequency is recommended for vegetarians or for people who avoid red meat. Legumes/soy are a 'meat alternative' - this means that when you have, for example, baked beans on toast, it counts as a 'serving of red meat'.
See also the HEC Healthy Eating Pyramid

A study publsihed in 2001 showed that eating beans a few times a week can help to reduce heart disease risk. The study showed that the more beans you eat the less likely you are to get heart disease.Read more...