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Bean salad

This salad is a fantastic side dish but can also be served as a light lunch. Full of nutrients and healthy protein from the legumes and feta.

prep time 10 min
ingredients for 4
  • 1 can (400g) chickpeas
  • 1 can (400g) beans
  • 1 red onion, diced or sliced thinly
  • 7-8 sun-dried tomatoes
  • 125 g cherry tomatoes
  • small cucumber, diced
  • a few artichoke hearts, pickled or in oil
  • 10 pitted olives
  • handful of dill, parsley and basil
  • olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper for the dressing
  • 150 g feta, crumbled

1.  Place all the ingredients except the feta and the dressing in a serving bowl.

2. Mix 5-6 tbls each of olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar, add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the salad and mix carefully. Add more dressing if needed.

3. Add crumbled feta and mix lightly.

4. Place in a fridge for 15-20 min before serving.

tip: I used red beans mainly for color, but you can use any beans of your choice

BUON APPETITO!

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Roman style puntarelle

Puntarelle is the name given in Italy to tender sprouts of Catalogna chicory (or asparagus chicory). They can be eaten boiled, sautéed or raw. Puntarelle alla Romana is crunchy, curly chicory salad dressed with anchovy vinaigrette.
photo from the internet
On the left the Catalogna chicory plant, on the right it is trimmed and cleaned, which is the way I prefer to buy it 🙂 If you want, you can find instructions on the internet on how to clean and trim the chicory. Puntarelle is a lovely side dish and especially good with lamb or pork.
prep time 10 min
ingredients for 4
  • 500g cleaned puntarelle
  • 1-2 garlic cloves
  • 4 oil-packed anchovy fillets (drained)
  • 3-4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 4-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • salt

1. Dry the ribbons and place in a large bowl.

2. Combine the anchovies, crushed garlic, red wine vinegar and emulsify with oil to make the vinaigrette. Or just mix the cloves and anchovies to the salad and add the oil and vinegar like I do. Some people use lemon instead of vinegar. I am not one of those even though I love me a good lemon or two almost anywhere. Here I think the slightly tangy taste of puntarelle calls for red wine vinegar. Adjust salt – you probably don’t need it at all depending on your anchovies.

BUON APPETITO!

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Two winter salads with spinach and fruit

Today I have two variations of the same winter salad to present. Just changing the legumes and a few other ingredients you obtain another salad. In the first one I’ve used cannellini beans and in the second chickpeas as protein.

prep time 10 min
ingredients for 2
  • 1 bag (125g) baby spinach or 1/2 baby spinach and 1/2 mixed lettuce
  • 1 can (400g) cannellini beans
  • 1 grapefruit
  • 1 avocado
  • 4-5 sun-dried tomatoes
  • handful of almonds
  • 4-5 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
  • 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • salt

1. Rinse the beans, peel and cut the grapefruit into mouth size bites, cut tomatoes into stripes, deseed the pomegranate unless you have done it previously and slice and peel the avocado.

2. Place all the ingredients apart from the dressing on a bed of baby spinach and toss them together with the dressing.

variation

Substitute the cannellini beans with chickpeas and the almonds with sunflower seeds. Omit the sun dried tomatoes.

BUON APPETITO!

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Red cabbage and orange salad

This salad combines the crunchy texture of the cabbage and the sweet flavor of oranges for a delicious side dish. It’s quick and healthy and oh so pretty.

prep time 10 min
ingredients for 2
  • a very small red cabbage or half of a bigger one
  • 1 orange
  • a handful of cashews
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • salt

1. Discard the outer leaves of the cabbage,  cut in half and take out the hard core. Slice into thin slices either with a knife or a mandolin.

2. Peel the orange taking off all the pith. Then either cut into segments or slice into rounds. Note that the juices tend to run so place your salad dish underneath.

3. Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt. Toss  through the salad and add the cashews.

BUON APPETITO!

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Green apple fennel and walnut salad

We had this tasty salad for lunch:  fennel, apple and roasted walnuts on a bed of arugula and valerianella salad also known as songino, lamb’s lettuce or corn salad.

Prep time 15 min
INGREDIENTS FOR 2-3
  • 1 bag of arugula (rucola, rocket)
  • 1 bag of valerianella
  • 1 green apple
  • 1 fennel bulb or two if small
  • big handful of walnuts
  • 3 tbls extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
  • 3 tbls of lemon juice
  • salt and peper
  • whole rose pepper

1. Place the arugula and valerianella on a serving platter.  I used a tray.

2. Peel, halve, core and slice the apple. Trim, halve, core and thinly slice the fennel on a mandolin. Keep the fennel fronds for garnish.

3. Roast the walnuts in a small skillet without oil.

4. Whisk together the oil with the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

5. Toss the dressing with apple and fennel and transfer to the serving platter.

6. Drizzle with olive oil, then top with the walnuts and garnish with the fennel fronds.

Tip: I have tried this also with pomegranate seeds leaving out the rose pepper.

BUON APPETITO!

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Green salad with fruit

Salads are the easiest side dishes. You can practically toss into your salad whatever you like. No cooking, no hassle. This is one of the more appropriate for autum since it has pomegranate and mandarin in it.

Prep time  10 min
INGREDIENTS
  • 1 bag of mixed salad greens
  • 2-3 mandarins
  • the seeds of a half a pomegranate
  • a handful of walnuts, cashews, pumpkin and sunflower seeds
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
  • salt

1. Add to the salad mix the peeled mandarin slices, the pomegranate seeds and the healthy nuts and seeds.

2. Prepare the dressing for the salad by mixing 3-4 tbls of oil and 2-3 tbls of vinegar and adding some salt and a dash of black pepper if it is to your liking. Toss the salad gently with the dressing. I always use this dressing for my salads. Nowadays I prefer the balsamic vinegar but I don’t mind a good red wine vinegar.

BUON APPETITO!