A Great Picnic Salad!

Cherry Tomato and White Bean Salad


Makes 4 to 6 servings.

This recipe is very tasty and right out of NYT Cooking. I served it at a family picnic and got rave reviews.  The original recipe included shaved Parmesan cheese (2 oz) but I thought it was over the top.  I like the fresh taste of the vegetables and adding cheese seemed to make the dressing thick.  I like the crunch of the onions and celery.

¼ c olive oil

3 T red wine vinegar

½ tsp Dijon mustard

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 small or ½ large red onion, sliced vertically in narrow pieces

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved

4 c cooked cannellini or Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained

2 ribs celery, sliced thinly

¼ c chopped fresh parsley

In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper.  Stir in the onion and garlic.  Set aside to marinate for 15 to 30 minutes.

Once the tomatoes, celery and beans have been prepared, add to the dressing in the large bowl.  Gently toss together.  Just prior to serving fold in the parsley.

I’ve made this in advance and combined the dressing with the other ingredients right before serving.

Adding more and different fresh herbs would also go well.

Curry Garbanzo Beans with Chicken

I've got a new cookbook!  "Feed Zone Table: Family-Style Meals to Nourish Life and Sport".  There are two authors, Biju Thomas and Allen Lim.  They both consult with professional sports teams.  One is a professional chef and the other a PhD exercise physiologist.  In the book, they both focus on pro cycling teams and how to improve performance through nutrition.  While doing research they found that cyclists perform better when their training is more socially connected to each other.  So they now train and eat in groups.  The authors then focused on family-style meals that are nutritious, made from fresh ingredients, quick to prepare and tasty.  The following recipe is one that I adapted from one of theirs.

Curry Garbanzo Beans with Chicken

One pound zucchini cut into ½” matchsticks

1 small clove garlic, minced

½ red onion, sliced vertically

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 T. Madras curry powder

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

¼ tsp Ufra chili or red pepper flakes

1 15 ½ oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed

6 – 8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1”x2” pieces

2 T. olive oil

½ c. chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, dill, mint, cilantro and/or basil.

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees regular bake or 400 degrees convection roast.

Place all ingredients, except the herbs, into a large bowl and mix until the spices are well distributed.  Spread on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and distribute to one layer.  Place in the oven.  After 10 minutes check for doneness of the chicken.  It should be just cooked through.  Continue to roast for a few more minutes if the chicken is not quite cooked.

Place on a serving platter and distribute herbs over the top.  Serve with yogurt on the side.  Serves two as an entree.

I found this to be very tasty and very fast.  In a convection oven on roast (vs. bake) this cooked up in 10 minutes.  You could make this vegan by eliminating the chicken and adding 1/4 c. pine nuts or chopped walnuts.

For those who count carbs, the number of carbs per serving (approx. 1 cup) is 44 grms.  Subtract the dietary fiber of 12 grms. and the number of carbs that count is 32 grms. You can reduce the quantity of carbs to 1 cup/recipe.  An individual serving of countable carbs will drop to 16 grms.  One serving or one exchange for my diabetic friends.