Butter Beans Spring Salad

So Spring is finally here in the Netherlands, which means that it’s time to switch from glorious soups to glorious salads. This one is very simple to make and packed with flavor. It didn’t start out as a salad recipe. In fact, it started out as baby food. Loulou has been sick for a couple of days and along with a developmental leap, this has made her super cranky and picky. So I was trying to figure out a food that would give her as many nutrients as possible even in a few spoonfuls. She is madly in love with tomatoes and she likes beans and chickpeas, that are a great plant-based protein source, so I decided to blend those two together. And add some more ingredients to spice things up. It was a great success so I decided to make an adult version for me.

She tried to steal pieces from my salad as well. And succeeded.

Ingredients (for 2 people)

• 1 can of butter beans (or white lima beans, or any other bean that is not in a sauce)
• 1 cucumber
• 10-12 cherry tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1/2 white onion
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• a pinch of dried spearmint (or oregano)
• balsamic vinegar to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Chop the cucumber in small cubes.
• Cut the cherry tomatoes in quarters.
• Coarsely chop the onion.
• Mix everything in a bowl and add the olive oil, capers, balsamic vinegar, spearmint, salt and pepper.

You can of course add more ingredients, like sesame or line seeds, to give it some extra crunch. I imagine it would be great with some marinated tofu or tempeh as well.

a close-up

Enjoy!