Black Bean and Edamame Salad

I am a salad lover. Often, I watch the Today show and they have a nutritionist on there named Joy Bauer. She answers frequent questions about healthy eating and and dieting. She talks about how if you don't like salads you shouldn't "suffer" through them.

Suffer through a salad?! Who could suffer through a salad? Certainly not I.

Especially one as delicious and flavorful as this. This salad is filling and satisfying without the need of any added protein. The edamame and black beans add filling protein, fiber, and flavor that is very satiating. I made this for meatless Mondays and bulked it up by tossing it with raw spinach and red leaf lettuce to get a really delicious dinner. Adding a piece of grilled chicken would certainly be alright, but I enjoyed mine with this lovely savory biscotti. (Recipe coming tomorrow!)

If you are trying to get more vegetarian meals into your life, this may be the way to go. Beans and pure soy protein give a great heftiness to this dish and you didn't even need to break out a skillet!

When you hear the word "biscotti", you would often think of a traditional hard, italian cookie. This, however, is more like a cracker. Flavored with pecorino and tangy goat cheese, it makes a great contrast to almost any meal. (And has great scoop-ability, especially for this salad ;) )

Black Bean and Edamame Salad

1 Can Black Beans, drained and rinsed with the liquid reserved

1 C. Edamame, shelled

1 English cucumber

1/2 C. cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 red onion, minced

1/4 C. Cilantro, coarsely chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

Dressing:

juice of 1 lime

drizzle of olive oil

2 tsp. dijon mustard

1 tbs. reserved black bean liquid

1/2 tsp. sriracha or any hot sauce

2 tbs. prepared salsa

1 tbs. apple cider vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Combine all of dressing ingredients in a measuring cup and whisk to combine. Pour over salad, only enough to moisten. Let sit for minimum 1 hour to  overnight. The longer this salad sits, the better it gets as all of the juices from the vegetables are released and flavor the dressing. 

*Note: I let this salad sit overnight so there was clearly enough dressing in the salad to toss with extra greens for a more filling dish. Enjoy!