Mediterranean Bean Salad with mixed beans, green pepper, cucumber, tomato, red onion and feta cheese with a simple oil and vinegar dressing is the perfect crunchy and sturdy salad to make this summer. This recipe is sponsored by Loblaws.
Over the last few years I’ve been trying to eat and cook more vegetarian and plant-based recipes at home. This is something that has become somewhat of a food trend in recent times, but for me, it’s mostly because eating vegetarian can:
- Be more affordable
- Push you to be more creative in the kitchen
- Encourage you to use more local produce
These are all good things for a creative, city-dwelling cook like me. Plus, it allows me to have a variety of recipes up my sleeve when I’m having vegan or vegetarian friends over—they are still food lovers even if they don’t follow the exact same eating habits as I do.
I recently met with an in-store registered dietitian at my local Loblaws to talk about meal planning and eating more vegetarian and plant-based meals at home; what kinds of things I should be looking for when I’m shopping, different ways to get in a variety of fruits and vegetables even in the winter months (hello frozen and canned vegetables!) and how to develop more vegetable-forward recipes.
As a food lover, I loved walking through Loblaws, chatting with their in-store registered dietitian Emilia about the different ingredients; sharing ways we cook certain things, our favourite dishes and recipes. I even wrote down a whole page of notes throughout our conversation.
As someone who lives and breathes cooking, it was so much fun to hear her perspective and her ideas for adding more plant-based meals into my life. If you are interested in learning more about speaking with a dietitian or the services Loblaws in-store dietitians offer, you can book a consultation here.
I left the consultation with a ton of ideas, but the first one I wanted to make was a Mediterranean bean salad. I’ve fallen a bit off the wagon bringing my lunches to work over the past couple of weeks, so I figured a flavourful and sturdy bean salad would last well in my fridge for packed lunches all week.
This mixed bean salad is inspired by Mediterranean flavours; along with local cucumber, green pepper and tomatoes, I’ve thrown in a few canned favourites like sundried tomatoes packed in oil, marinated artichokes, Kalamata olives and capers.
Easy Bean Salad Dressing
The dressing is the star of the show here and I was inspired by my favourite Greek salad recipe and opted to use dried herbs like they traditionally do in salads in Greece. The dressing is a simple combination of olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic and dried oregano.
Mediterranean Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 1 19 oz can mixed beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 English cucumber, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup drained and chopped marinated artichokes
- 1/3 cup diced red onion
- 1/4 cup drained and minced sundried tomatoes packed in oil
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta
- 1/4 cup pitted and sliced Kalamata olives
- 2 tbsp drained capers
Dressing:
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 small clove garlic, grated
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss all salad ingredients together.
- In a measuring cup or another small bowl, whisk dressing ingredients. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss.
Let me know if you give this Mediterranean bean salad recipe a try in the comments below.
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