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Easy Dense Bean Salad

Dense Bean Salad
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This Mediterranean-inspired dense bean salad recipe is packed with hearty beans, artichoke hearts, and olives in an herby vinaigrette. It’s great for meal prep and stores all week for healthy lunches or as a side dish!

Ingredients

Scale
  • One 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • One 15-ounce can butter beans, drained and rinsed
  • One 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, roughly chopped (not marinated)
  • ¼ cup minced red onion
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced (or sliced cherry tomatoes)
  • ½ English cucumber, diced
  • ½ cup mild green olives (such as Castelvetrano), halved
  • ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh mint or dill (or parsley)
  • 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 1 garlic clove, grated
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the kidney beans, butter beans, artichoke hearts, red onion, bell pepper, cucumber, olives, and fresh mint or dill. Toss gently to mix.
  2. In a small saucepan, combine the olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic, oregano, cumin, kosher salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat, then immediately remove from the heat.
  3. Pour the warm vinaigrette over the vegetables and beans and toss to coat. Let the salad marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Stores up to 5 days refrigerated. 

Notes

  • Adders and swaps: You can add feta cheese crumbles to add more protein. Cherry tomatoes work in place of the bell pepper if desired. You can also swap red wine vinegar for white wine vinegar and use any other herbs you like – the more the better! Lemon juice is also nice for brightness though I like vinegar here. 

Find it online: https://www.acouplecooks.com/dense-bean-salad-recipe/