A new week and a new bag of dried beans have been put through the pressure cooker and need using up. This time it is the little red Aducki Beans. I make four dishes with these tasty little nuggets, 5-Spice Aducki Beans, Aducki Bean Stir Fry, Aducki Bean Shepherds Pie, Aducki Bean and Red Cabbage Casserole and I use them in a slow cooker veggie stew. Oh ok that's five isn't it? lol So I make five dishes with these little nuggets..lol. But as I had a box of freshly cooked ones to use up I wanted to try and come up with a couple of dishes of my own.
I started off by making a dressing for a simple bean salad, to use as a topping for my salads this week. I added the usual ingredients that you find with Aducki Beans and then blitzed it up...and promptly poured it down the sink! I obviously wasn't feeling the sesame oil, soy sauce, chilli and garlic love. I wanted something more simple and flavoursome. I had a half tin of chopped tomatoes in the fridge and I found myself scooping them into the blender and then pulling things from the cupboard. I really like the simplicity of this dressing and I think it works well with the beans.
Rocket and Roses Aducki Bean Salad with Tomato Dressing
(Original recipe from the Rocket and Roses Vegan Kitchen)
2 1/2 cups of cooked Aducki Beans
2 spring onions, trimmed
2 3" long carrots, peeled
Dressing
6 tbsp chopped tomatoes
1 small garlic clove, peeled and bitter green core removed
1 tsp chilli paste
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp Agave Nectar or sugar/sweetener of your choice
4 tbsp water
salt and black pepper to season (optional)
Put the cooked Aducki Beans into a serving bowl. Once the spring onions have been trimmed cut them in half at the point where it goes from white to green and separate. Finely chop the white parts and put to one side and then roughly chop the green. Taking the peeled carrots and your peeler (if you don't have a veggie peeler you could grate them) slice of ribbons of carrot until you have a little pile of thin carrot slices. Place them all to one side whilst you make the dressing.
In a blender, spoon in the chopped tomatoes, chilli paste, Agave Nectar, balsamic and the garlic, and blend until smooth. Pour in the water and blitz again to thin down and smooth the dressing. You should have approx 6 fl oz of dressing. Taste it for yourself and season to taste.
Add the white chopped spring onions and stir them into the Aducki Beans and then stir in 2/3 of the carrot ribbons. Drizzle 4 tbsp of the dressing over the bean salad and toss to combine.
Sprinkle the green chopped spring onion over the top and the remaining carrots and give one gentle toss. Taste for seasoning and adjust to your preference.
Simple and easy way to start the week. Enjoy!
