If you aren’t on social media a lot, you probably haven’t heard of the dense bean salad craze. Pioneer to buy Violet Witchel, former culinary student and master of the dense bean salad, she rose a popularity about a year ago with a video talking about her weekly meal prep and how it included a dense bean salad.
A dense bean salad is a salad that features beans as well as other hearty vegetables in a light oil and vinegar dressing. It can be stored in the fridge for up to five or six days, and like most things, it gets better the longer it sits in the fridge.
I have been making them for a few months, and I am in love. It is a great way to increase your fiber intake, enjoy a protein-based meal that does not have meat in it, and it’s a good way to eat seasonal veggies.
Here is the basic format.
Pick two kinds of beans: black beans, garbanzo beans, pinto beans, navy beans, cannellini beans, or even edamame. Whether you use canned rinsed and drained beans, or make them in your Instant Pot, or in the case of edamame, steam a frozen bag, your base all begins with beans.
You need at minimum 2–4 veggies. Popular choices include red onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, celery, carrots, shaved cabbage/coleslaw mix, avocado slices, or shaved Brussels sprouts. Other flavorful options include finely chopped herbs, like parsley, cilantro, or dill.
If you like pickled veggies, beets, banana peppers, pickled jalapeños, olives, even oil-packed veggies like sun-dried tomatoes are a great choice.
Next, you need a salad dressing. Oil and vinegar or an acid like fruit juice and oil is a great choice. Check out my simple vinaigrette infographic for some ideas.
If you like cheese, I recommend feta, but other good choices include cubes of hard cheeses, or mini mozzarella pearls. Soft cheese like queso Fresca is also good.
Some people like to add a cooked grain. Examples include Farro, quinoa, bulgar, or couscous (regular or Israeli). I would not add rice, or any sort of pasta. In my mind, pasta salads are a different dish and usually don’t involve beans.
Here is my recent Dense Bean Salad:
- 1 14-ish ounce can Garbanzo Beans
- 1 14-ish ounce can cannellini beans
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 purple onion, diced and soaked in ice water (remove from ice water before adding to salad)
- 3 ribs celery, diced
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tablespoon Oregano
- 1 tablespoon Basil
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
- dash of crushed red peppers
- Salt and pepper to taste
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