Pear and black bean salad

Looking back at the last few posts i'm detecting a slight lack of cake and sweetness!

Ok I will stop with the salads soon…I promise…maybe! I am really enjoying salad experiments ( I also have another I want to share but maybe I will need to reign that back for now) and just want to share the best flavour combos and pretty platters with you.

There will definitely be much more cake and Christmas goodies over the next couple of weeks so maybe this little episode of savoury dishes is a subconscious statement to address the balance!

So back to the salad...

In previous years I was never big into salads, I was also never big into combining fruit with savoury dishes (I always struggled to get my head around apple sauce with pork and cranberry saice with turkey when I was a child)…but all that has since changed.

Apples and pears make great salad partners for this time of year, plus salads are a great way to use up some leftovers,  I happened to have a small amount of black beans needing using after making some brownie slices. Red cabbage is also one of my favourite ingredients simply because it so colourful and so quick and easy to add to a salad or stir fry for a great texture. I also find red cabbage stays fresh in the fridge for ages so I end up using it for so many meals.

Simple fresh and colourful lunch or side dish, so pretty and guaranteed to put a smile of your face and a swing in your step (hopefully!) Plus if you like, since you've been so virtuous, you can follow up with a cookie or two...

Recipe: Pear and black bean salad

Ingredients

serves 1

½ cup red cabbage- sliced thinly
1 pear cubed
½ cup cooked sweet corn
½ cup cooked black beans
Scant ¼ cup red onion- sliced thinly

Dressing: 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tbs lemon juice, ½ tsp wholegrain mustard.

Salt, pepper, chilli flakes and chia seeds (optional) to serve

Method

Prepare all veggies and toss together in the dressing.  Add a little salt and pepper to taste plus a few chia seeds to serve for an extra boost if desired.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

or tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.