Beetroot and red kidney bean jewel salad

This is salad is super quick and easy to throw together – practically idiot proof. It’s one of my after work go-to meals, and also a great healthy lunch option that you can prepare in advance.

Ingredients

• 1 x 450g tin of beetroot (if you have time, the same amount of roasted, fresh beetroot is always better)
• 100g raw almonds
• 100g pepitas (toasted pine nuts or sunflower seeds are great too)
• 1 x 400g tin of red kidney beans (I only use organic, no-added salt beans)
• 2 x tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 x teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 x tablespoon smoked paprika (flat, not heaped)
• 1 x pinch of salt
• 1 x pinch of black pepper

Method

Carefully dice the beetroot into small cubes about one 1 x 1 centimetre in size (so they look like jewels) and set aside.

Empty the can of red kidney beans into a colander and rinse gently, taking care not to damage the beans. Make sure you rinse off all of the liquid used to preserve the beans. Add the beetroot cubes to a colander and rinse again gently. Leave the beetroot and beans in a colander to drain off any excess liquid.

Pour the olive oil and lemon juice to a large bowl. Empty the beetroot and beans into the large bowl and gently mix through. Add in the paprika, salt and pepper, and mix through again. Set this aside for about 10 minutes to allow the beetroot and beans to marinate; this allows the beetroot and beans to take on the smokey flavour of the paprika.

Meanwhile, roughly chop the raw almonds – I like cutting them in half, but feel free to chop them up as much or as little as you like. If you prefer, you could toast the almonds before using – I use raw almonds purely as a personal preference.

Add the almonds and pepitas to the beetroot and beans, and mix through gently.

If you have some pistachio dukkah lying around in your pantry, sprinkle a large pinch over the top before serving.

I tend to make this for lunch 1-2 days in advance, as I find this intensifies the flavour of the salad. I get about 2-3 lunch portions from this recipe, and often add a side of steamed spinach or fresh rocket with each portion.