It's summer in India and as always it's humid and very very hot. Obviously in such climate it becomes onerous to cook as well eat a heavy meal. At such times - especially - salads come to rescue. Personally I love eating salads not just because they are healthy but also because they taste so incredibly good. Among many salads that can be quickly fixed my favorite is the Three Bean Salad. This salad is full of proteins and amino acids and is especially good for expecting and lactating women. Three bean salad is slightly Western in taste, nonetheless, I took the liberty to make it - through this recipe - palatable to Indians as well.
What to eat with: My dad loves it with parathas while my mum enjoys it on top of toasted garlic bread just like bruschetta.
Pointers:
1. There are many versions of this salad which require boiled, par boiled or raw beans. But I prefer boiled beans since we Indians are accustomed to them more.
2. You can use a wide variety of beans for this salad but in this recipe I have used kidney beans, black eyed beans and garbanzo beans.
3. Though olive oil is recommended for salad dressing I have purposely avoided it in this recipe.
Ingredients
1. One fist full of Rajma or kidney beans
2. One fist full of lobiya or chawli or black eyed beans
3. One fist full of chole or white chana or garbanzo beans
4. One medium sized cucumber chopped
5. One medium sized tomato chopped
6. 10-12 leaves of Mint part chopped and part whole
7. Juice of 1 lemon
8. Pinch of lemon zest
9. Pinch of salt
10. ½ tsp honey
11. Pinch of pepper
Method:
1. Soak and boil all the beans and then place them on a colander for the water to strain.
2. In a bowl add lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper and whisk until all the ingredients mix together.
3. Into the bowl add the strained beans, cucumber, tomato and mint leaves and combine the salad.
4. Once done add pinch of lemon zest and combine again.
5. Place the salad into the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour.
6. Once done three bean salad is ready. Bon appetit
