This yummy protein-rich salad is really very simple and makes a great packed lunch.
I tend to roast the veg when I’ve got the oven on for something else, and the quick-soaking method means my lunch plans aren’t scuppered if I’ve forgotten to put the beans in to soak. Substitute canned butter beans if you must, but it’s worth getting to grips with your pressure cooker so that you can use dried beans – you can then soak and cook larger batches of beans and freeze what you don’t need for another day.
Ingredients
200g dried butter beans, soaked or quick-soaked
(or substitute one tin of butter beans, rinsed and drained)
2 courgettes
2 red peppers
olive oil
a handful of walnuts
the juice of a lemon
plenty of fresh basil
freshly ground black pepper
salt
Method
1. Chop the courgettes and peppers, spread them in a single layer on a non-stick baking tray or ovenproof dish and drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast in the oven (at about 220/Fan 200) until they are cooked to your liking.
2. Using the quick-soak method if required, put the soaked beans in the pressure cooker with a little salt and cook until tender (check after 15 minutes). Drain the cooked beans.
3. Assemble the salad by squeezing the lemon over the still-warm beans and then stirring in the roast veg, walnuts and fresh basil leaves. Be generous with the freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!
Notes: If you’re intimidated by your pressure cooker, hip pressure cooking will explain everything. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you could just cook the beans in a covered pot, it just takes longer (bring the soaked beans to the boil and simmer until tender).
Draining the soaking water and cooking the beans in fresh water helps to make the beans more digestible, but if you still suffer with gas, don”t give up – eating beans regularly (cooking them thoroughly and sticking to small quantities to start with) will give the good bacteria in your gut a chance to adapt. This salad will keep happily in the fridge for a few days, so if this is you, you could try eating just a small serving of it everyday alongside another salad until your digestive system has got the hang of it.
- 200g dried butter beans, soaked (or substitute one tin of butter beans, rinsed and drained)
- 2 courgettes
- 2 red peppers
- olive oil
- a handful of walnuts
- the juice of a lemon
- plenty of fresh basil
- freshly ground black pepper
- salt
- Chop the courgettes and peppers, spread them in a single layer on a non-stick baking tray or ovenproof dish and drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast in the oven (at about 220/Fan 200) until they are cooked to your liking.
- Using the quick-soak method if required, put the soaked beans in the pressure cooker with a little salt and cook until tender (check after 15 minutes). Drain the cooked beans.
- Assemble the salad by squeezing the lemon over the still-warm beans and then stirring in the roast veg, walnuts and fresh basil leaves. Be generous with the freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!
The salad will keep happily in the fridge for a few days and travels well, so makes a great packed lunch.