Cilantro mint vegetable bean and olive salad with balsamic lime dressing
Inspiration and thoughts
I never tire of a delicious and colorful salad! This one is so good. Here in San Diego the very welcome but very short-lived cool weather has gone again and the heat is back. It really is not too bad, but for San Diego it is on the hotter side and I am ready for another cool down (coming soon!). This means, for me, to avoid the oven and stovetop when I can during the day.
Enter this salad! I usually eat some type of salad for lunch and as I’ve mentioned before, if I can spice it up a bit or make it without lettuce, I will do that. Not that I don’t love lettuce in salads, but there is so much other variety. This salad mixes it up with tasty ingredients and is easy and quick to make, and you very likely have many of the ingredients in the fridge.
All of these ingredients are staples in my kitchen and they are so good together! The mix of the veggies with the beans and olives is a great combo. The edamame and white beans are perfectly opposite that add to the fabulous texture – the creamy white beans mixed with the crunch of the edamame (and cucumbers) are so good together. The juicy tomatoes add a great bite, and the olives are so delicious and tangy and go great with the lime dressing. Add the mint and cilantro for freshness, and this salad will not disappoint!
How it’s made, notes
So easy. Just mix everything together in a large bowl after you’ve chopped them up. A few notes about this: make sure to rinse the beans well, and drain them, before you add them to the mix. You can definitely use other beans instead of white beans, but these are my favorite in salads and that creaminess is so perfect with the crunch of the veggies. I also use Persian cucumbers for this recipe but you can also use English cucumbers, just use one instead of two because those are much larger.
And lastly for the balsamic lime dressing. You can use lemon juice instead, but I find the tangy lime adds a great flavor to this recipe and goes well with the olives and balsamic vinegar. Mix all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl or container until well combined. You can use a small container with a lid and shake it up a bit if you have that on hand. Pour it over the salad ingredients, mix it up, and you’re ready to enjoy this fabulous salad!
So easy, quick, healthy, colorful, refreshing and most importantly: delicious. Enjoy!
Cilantro mint vegetable bean and olive salad with balsamic lime dressing
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 can white beans
- 1 cup edamame
- 1/2 cup red onion finely chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
- 1/4 cup mint finely chopped
- 1 cup small manzanilla olives chopped in half
- flaxseeds optional
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 2¾ cucumbers
Dressing
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- juice of 2 limes about 4 tablespoons
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Rinse and drain the white beans and chop up the mint, cilantro, cucumbers, red onion, cherry tomatoes and olives. Add everything to a large bowl. Add the edamame and flaxseeds.
- Add all of the dressing ingredients into a small bowl or container and mix well; you can also put this into a small container with a lid and shake it up for a few seconds.
- Add the dressing to the bowl mix everything together. Serves for 2 as a main dish and 4 as a side. You can garnish with extra flaxseeds, mint and cilantro for extra flavor if you wish! Enjoy!
Notes
- parsley instead of cilantro
- another bean instead of white bean (I love white beans because they are so creamy but if you prefer another that is fine!)
- if you prefer a lemon dressing you can use lemons instead of limes
- I used pimento stuffed manzanilla olives because I love them and had them on hand, and I do think they go great with this salad - feel free to use another olive such as black olives or castelvetrano olives. I also used the smaller manzanilla olives but you can use the large ones as well.