Legumes can be used to prepare very attractive salads , both cold and warm. In this article we are going to give you some ideas so that you don't get bored with legume salads.
In a country as legume-driven as Spain was, due to the cheapness and ancestral availability of legumes, in many cases we now have to work hard to get our children to eat legumes. Or many adults.
Legumes have so many virtues that the FAO even declared this year, 2016, the International Year of Legumes . Celebrate by eating legumes non-stop.
If there is one positive thing that the crisis of recent years has brought us, it has been the return to simple and unsophisticated ingredients such as legumes , as well as to home cooking. Every cloud has a silver lining.
Before going into detail about each type of salad, we remind you that the essential thing for a salad to turn out well is that the legumes are of quality and from the same year . If we buy dried legumes, it is not the same if they were dried in the same year as if they are more than a year old. The care with which they have been preserved also has an influence, although we have no control over this. Therefore, the ideal is to find a trustworthy supplier and try.
However, if we want to be sure that the legumes are tasty and tender, we have quality canned vegetables at our disposal, both for chickpeas and for white beans, red beans, pochas beans, La Granja beans and lentils. Using canned vegetables makes it much easier to prepare salads, since not only do we not have to bother cooking the vegetables, but we hardly have to plan anything in advance. We open the can and that's it. They are a perfect solution for summer.
Chickpea salads
Chickpea salad in vinaigrette is a classic summer tapas dish. Chickpeas can be accompanied by raw vegetables and canned fish , such as tuna in oil, chopped tomatoes and peppers, which are typical in this salad. Mixing these ingredients is always a good idea, and you can give it a fun touch if you make the vegetables in a spiral ( Spirelli will help you), although we can always make salads with more sophisticated and foreign flavours, such as this chickpea salad with carrot with oriental flavours.
Ingredients that go well with chickpeas:
- Tomatoes
- Green and red peppers
- Raw and fried onion
- Chives
- Fresh herbs such as cilantro
- Carrot
- Boiled Potato
- Hard boiled egg
- Cucumber
- Feta cheese
- Canned tuna
- Smoked
- Spices such as curry, cumin, etc.
Chickpea and carrot salad recipe from El Invitado de Invierno
Lentil salad
Lentil salads are perhaps less common, but they also have tasty possibilities. In the Middle East and Asia, there are succulent cold dishes made with lentils and very spicy, such as the famous mujadara . You can find delicious examples of lentil salads in Yotam Ottolenghi's Vegetarian Gourmet .
However, I think that lentils do not accept all the accompaniments that chickpeas do, although perhaps it is because of the habit of seeing chickpeas in salad and not seeing lentils. You have an example in this lentil salad with cumin and lemon in brine . It is delicious!
Ingredients that go well with lentils:
- Olives
- Cucumber
- Nuts
- Moroccan-style pickled lemon
- Garlic
- Celery
- Wild asparagus
Bean Salad
For bean salads, whatever their colour, it is essential to use good raw materials . I find that bean salads allow for other accompaniments that are somewhat different from the previous ones, with stronger flavours , such as slices of cured cheese, or more sophisticated ones, such as seafood.
Ingredients that go well with beans:
- Cooked seafood
- Tomato
- Onion
- Garlic
- Cucumber
- Cured cheese
- Assorted mushrooms
All the vegetables that accompany legume salads will go well chopped with knives , mandolins or spiral cutters .
And of course, all salads should always be well drizzled with virgin olive oil and quality vinegars .
Microplane adjustable mandoline , Le Creuset salad bowl and Gefu Spirelli spiral cutter
Ideas for serving legume salads
Food is a visual treat and not only does it have to look appetizing, but it also adds a plus if we serve it in pretty containers.
In this sense, any salad served in a porcelain salad bowl from Tokyo Design or in a ceramic salad bowl from Le Creuset goes up several points. Almost enough to be awarded a Michelin star.
