Bean salads are one of those ingredients that are so simple, delicious, and incredibly good for you.
Here’s why I love them so much:
When I make bean salad, I skip the canned beans and go old school ~ soaking dried beans overnight and cooking them with a piece of kelp or kombu sea vegetable.
That kelp is rich in iodine, which directly supports thyroid health and your cardiovascular system.
In traditional healing medicine, beans are considered a kidney-nourishing food. And, when you mix them with fresh summer veggies like cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, what you end up with is a cool, refreshing salad that’s also doing some serious healing work on the inside.
This is what I mean when I say food is medicine. Enjoy!
- 1 cup dried organic chickpeas
- 4 cups water
- 2 inches kelp
- 1 tsp. real salt
- 1 small red onion, peeled and diced
- 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ¼ cup parsley, minced
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 2-3 tbsp. white or red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp. fresh oregano (or 1 tsp. dried)
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup feta cheese, cubed
- Soak dried chickpeas overnight or 8-10 hours.
- Discard soaking water.
- Add chickpeas, kelp and 4 cups fresh water into an Instantpot or pressure cooker, and set timer for 20 minutes (on high).
- Drain chickpeas and let cool.
- In a large mixing bowl add onion, cucumber, tomatoes, parsley, and chickpeas.
- Whisk olive oil, vinegar, oregano and season with salt and pepper.
- Crumble feta cheese and toss lightly into the salad with dressing.
Andrea Beaman is an internationally renowned Holistic Health Coach, Natural Foods Chef, Speaker, Herbalist and best-selling author who helps people feel happier, healthier and in control of their health. She was named one of the top 100 Most Influential Health and Fitness Experts, is the recipient of the Natural Gourmet Institute’s Award for Excellence in Health-Supportive Education and a Health Leadership award from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Since 1999, Andrea has been teaching people how to harness their body’s own preventative and healing powers using food, herbal remedies and alternative medicine.
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