Warm White Bean and Leek Salad

Where to begin with my love of beans?

There are so many different delicious colours and sizes and they’re all just so darn cute. How much do I love them? Well, I love beans so much that I named one of my cats Bean. THAT’S how much.

Oh, and of course, they also make such a healthy addition to the diet: they’re chock full of fibre and protein and are a great food to help balance blood sugar and keep cravings at bay.

Plus, they’re super cheap and so versatile. In fact, I ended up doing something to totally transform this recipe with the leftovers that I can’t wait to tell you about. (Keep reading and you’ll see.)

But first, let’s talk about this ridiculously easy and tasty warm bean salad. As you can see, it’s only a handful of ingredients (like most of my recipes). It’s quick to whip up and super satisfying.

I like adding a bit of dried fruits to my bean salads cause that’s how I roll, but I realize that a lot of people don’t like the taste combination of sweet + savory. If that’s you, simple omit the raisins.

Leeks are one of my favourite flavour enhancers. They’re a little milder than onions so you can go hog wild with loading up plus they’re super healthy and full of liver-supporting sulfur compounds.

Here’s a tip for you when you prepare your leeks to make sure you get all that dirt and grit out from the folds. Simply slice the leeks and add them to a bowl of water while you prepare the rest of your ingredients. Once they’ve soaked for about 10 minutes, you can drain and rinse them well in a colander. This should do the trick, but if you notice any remaining dirt, just repeat.

OK, now that we got that out of the way, let’s begin:

Warm White Bean and Leek Salad

 

Save Print

Use organic ingredients when possible

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked white beans (dried and cooked or well rinsed from canned)
• 3 cups thinly sliced kale (washed, dried and de-stemmed)
• 2 large sliced leeks (don’t use the tough green ends)
• 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp olive oil (for drizzling)
• ¼ cup cashew crumbs (just bash whole cashews into crumbs in a pestle + mortar or in a plastic bag with a hard object)
• ¼ cup raisins
• 1 lemon (juiced)

Instructions

1. Heat coconut oil on med/high heat in a deep cooking saucepan. Add leeks and sauté approx. 5 minutes until just starting to soften and brighten
2. Add sliced garlic and cook 1 minute longer
3. Add beans, kale, raisins salt and HALF the lemon juice and cook until kale is wilted. Approx 3-4 minutes (If things start to stick a bit, add a tiny splash of water to the pan)
4. Plate onto large serving platter squeeze remaining lemon juice over dish, drizzle with olive oil and stop with crushed cashews.

3.3.3077

This makes a great side dish or main course. If using as a main course, you can jazz it up by making a bed of leafy greens and scooping some of this magic right on top. It also goes well with a side of any other veggie.

So, if you’re wondering the genius way I used the leftovers from this delicious dish (besides adding to more leafy greens for lunch the next day), I actually just added this bean salad to my trusty food processor, added a bit of tahini, a squeeze of lemon and some water and pureed into a white bean and leek hummus! One of the best I’ve made yet! I didn’t take any pics of it, but trust me, you will want to try this. Just use as much liquid as you need to get it to a consistency that makes all your dreams come true.

KD