Bean Salad

Hello Foodies! How are you today? This time we bring you a very complete recipe, packed with minerals, proteins and vitamins that you cannot miss: Super Nutritious Bean Salad. If you're one of those who thinks a bean dish is boring, we recommend you keep reading this recipe because it's going to surprise you!

This dish is known in Catalonia as empedrat and consists of a cold salad where beans and cod stand out as the main ingredients. Other elements that we will also find in it are tomato, pepper, onion, olives, and hard-boiled egg. This recipe is very flexible, and if you're not convinced by the cod, you can use anchovies instead as they pair perfectly. Likewise, if you prefer to substitute beans for chickpeas or lentils, that's also fine, and the flavor will not change much.

It is an ideal dish to be consumed in summer, spring, and during this time of the year when the cold is leaving and you fancy switching to lighter and more refreshing foods.  For the salad to be perfect, it is advisable to keep it in the fridge for at least an hour to cool down sufficiently, as it is much better this way because all the flavors will have blended better. As it's a very easy recipe to prepare, it's also an option if you don't have much time to cook that day or subsequent days, as you can always prepare more and keep it in the fridge to finish another day.

Beans: a surprisingly nutritious food

This traditional legume has great nutritional value. Besides being an excellent source of energy, its high fiber concentration will help us prevent constipation, keep blood glucose levels stable, and reduce the risk of diabetes. It's also suitable for a healthy diet as it helps reduce cholesterol levels and, containing fiber and plant protein, it's satisfying and can help you if you're trying to lose weight.

There are many types of beans that exist, differing in the color of their skin: White beans, which we will discuss in this post, painted beans, which are high in iron, and purple beans, which improve the tone and quality of the skin, among others.

All these varieties have these properties in common: they all contain B vitamins, Choline, minerals like iron and high levels of potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Undoubtedly, it becomes a very balanced food that will provide many nutrients to our body. If you're eager to learn more details about this legume, don't miss this entry. It's time to start with the recipe, but not before giving you the nutritional data of the main ingredient. Let's go!

Nutritional contribution of beans

Per 100 grams:

Calories: 304 kcal

Carbohydrates: 54 grams

Protein: 21.1 grams

Total fats: 1.6 grams

Fiber: 21.3 grams

How to make the recipe Bean Salad

1. Cook the beans in salted water until they are tender. We can skip this step if we use pre-cooked beans.
2. Drain them and leave the beans in a large bowl.
3. The cod, being salted, we also have to soak it for 24 hours, changing the water at least two or three times a day.
4. We then put it in a pot with water and just when it's about to boil, we remove the cod and let it drain well on absorbent paper.
5. Once it cools down, we shred it with our hands and add it to the bowl with the beans.
6. Next, we boil the eggs for 10-12 minutes. We cool them, peel them, and chop them, reserving the half of one of the eggs for decoration.
7. Then we chop the peppers, tomato, and onion into small cubes. We add these to the bowl.
8. We cut the olives into quarters and, along with the chopped eggs, we also add them to the bowl.
9. Once all the salad ingredients are together, all that's left is to dress them with oil, vinegar, and salt to taste and mix everything well.
10. Finally, it's advisable to put it in the fridge for a few minutes to serve it cold. We finish the dish with a little parsley on top, the reserved half egg cut in two, and a few whole olives as decoration for the plate.

Notes and Tips

This dish can be a bit difficult to digest if you are prone to slow digestion, bloating, or gas, but we can prevent this. Here are several tips to fight against the gas of white beans:

If you have the chance, soak the beans beforehand for a period of 24 hours. Once this time has passed, rinse them well and if you see that part of the skin comes off, don't worry, this is usually the culprit for gas. Afterwards, add a little fennel to the water, which will help with its digestive power and will also give a delicious flavor to the legume. And finally, we advise you to chew and eat slowly, as gas production is very related to these practices too.

If you want to know more recipes where you can use beans, we recommend this Beans with Clams recipe with Cooking Chef, created by us which will make your mouth water. If on the contrary, you're more traditional and want to discover how to improve an everyday dish, don't miss this Bean Stew recipe that we leave here.

That's all, Foodies! We hope you enjoyed it. If so, leave us your feedback in the comments, and if you have any questions. And don't forget to visit our Youtube Channel to find out about many more recipes that we will publish soon. See you soon!