Shall we try a different salad recipe? The stars for these ideas are legumes – such as peas, fava beans, lentils, chickpeas or just regular old beans. Combined with vegetables (or fruit), cheeses, herbs and much more, these legumes make any salad delicious, without sacrificing freshness. Here are some ideas!
Bean, cucumber, watermelon and feta salad
A very simple salad: You’ll need a box of white beans (you can opt for dry ones if you prefer, but the preparation becomes longer), a cucumber to peel and cut into cubes, a slice of watermelon to remove the seeds and cut into small pieces, and the feta, to crumble on the salad. To add a bittersweet touch you can add slices of Tropea onion. Season with extra virgin olive oil and salt or, if you prefer, with a vinaigrette of yogurt and mint and you're done!
Salad with chickpeas, spinach and tomatoes
Canned chickpeas drained of their water with red and yellow tomatoes add some extra joy to this salad! Just add a few spinach leaves and a can of high-quality tuna for an extra touch. Season to taste and the salad is ready.
Fava bean salad with fresh peas, songino and boiled eggs
Remove the fresh peas and fava beans from their pods. Add a few songino lettuce leaves, two whole boiled eggs and a few cubes of parmesan cheese. Season everything with extra-virgin olive oil mixed with a teaspoon of dijon mustard and lemon juice.
Lentil salad with olives, tuna and roasted bell peppers in oil
This one is a delicious (and quick) salad when you don’t have anything left in the fridge. Make it with lentils (canned lentils are faster), black olives (taggiasca olives are perfect because they give a particular flavor to the salad), roasted bell peppers in oil and tuna. The fresh touch? Sliced tomatoes.
Spinach salad with melon, shrimp and chickpeas
This idea is for a gourmet salad made with chickpeas and shrimp (you can buy the chickpeas canned or just steam them for a few minutes). Remove the head and shell from the shrimp and add them to the spinach, diced melon (replace with walnuts if you don't have the melon) and boiled chickpeas. Season with extra-virgin olive oil and salt.