Recipe: Taking care of health with bean, chickpea and avocado salad

One beautiful sunny day in Vancouver has me excited for summer: the season of salads. There’s something about the warm weather that leaves me with a never-ending craving for salad, in any shape or form. Sometimes salads get a bad rep when they’re associated with just being a big bowl of lettuce. That’s not exactly the most appetizing option. But salads don’t have to be leaf-based or boring. Mix it up with pasta salads, bean salads, and the classic everything-in-the-kitchen salad.

Last week, my best friend messaged me about one of our favourite bean salads that I had totally forgotten about. Stocked with plant-based protein and a refreshing lime-coriander dressing, it was hard to believe I hadn’t made it in months. There are lots of variations to this recipe too: I opted to use it as a topper to a kale-based salad while my best friend threw in quinoa for an extra punch. Then was a suggestion of adding quinoa and stuffing it into a wrap. Amazing.

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Black Bean, Chickpea & Avocado Salad

INGREDIENTS: 

1 can (19oz/540 mL) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (19oz/540 mL) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 sweet red or yellow pepper, diced
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
¼ cup fresh coriander, chopped
1 tsp grated lime rind
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup olive oil
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
¼ tsp each salt & pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl toss together black beans, chickpeas, onions, tomatoes, pepper, avocado and cilantro.
2. In a separate bowl whisk together lime rind and juice, oil, jalapeno pepper, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour over bean mixture; toss to serve.
3. Serve alone, over salad, quinoa, rice, in a wrap or on toast with eggs. The options are endless.