I always tell people, a salad can be as exciting as you want it to be. Salads can make tasty filling meals and the range of options that we can make are so varied you won’t get fed up of them. They can contain fruit and veg, just veg, just fruit, you can add cheeses, meats, poultry, chicken etc. And then, there are all sorts of dressings that you can make or buy to add to these. As the weather starts to get warmer, I find that I crave salads much more. They are one of my favourite foods, and one that the other salad eaters in my family enjoy too. You’ll see a list of some other yummy salad recipes I’ve written lower down in the post. But, before that take a look at my delicious and super healthy Bean Avocado Spinach and Tomato Salad.
Bean, Avocado, Spinach and Tomato Salad
Ingredients
Approx. 120g fresh baby spinach washed
2 400g tins of cannellini beans
12 Mini San Marzano tomatoes
1 medium red onion
1 avocado
Approx. 2 inch piece of cucumber
3-4tbs freshly chopped coriander
juice of 1 medium to large fresh lemon – more if you prefer
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste
Freshly ground rainbow peppercorns to taste
Method
Open the two tins of beans, rinse the beans, then add to a pan. Add boiled water so it covers the beans and has a few centimetres of water above the beans. Bring to a low boil and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes. Then turn off the heat, add in the spinach and this into the hot water. Cover and leave for 5 minutes. The spinach will wilt due to the existing heat. Stir the beans and spinach again then pour into a colander over the sink. If you are eating this hot then do this once everything has been chopped up. If eating this cold, pour the beans and spinach back into the pan and cover with cold water. Leave for a few minutes, pour out some of the water and top up with more cold water. Repeat until the spinach and beans have cooled then remove the water and place them into a serving bowl.
Quarter the tomatoes, chop the onion into small pieces, cut the avocado and cucumber into bitesize pieces, throw all of these in with the beans. Add the chopped coriander, drizzle over the lemon juice, olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and some freshly ground rainbow peppercorns. The lemon, oil, salt and pepper can be adjusted to suit your taste.
Add anything else from the chefs tips section that you fancy, or eat as it is. This is a tasty salad full of flavour with a great range of vitamins and minerals.
Chefs Tips
This is an easily adaptable dish. Don’t like an ingredients, don’t include it. Equally you can add other items to the mix. Other ingredients that can work well are pitted kalamata olives, sweet pepper, feta cheese (or a vegan alternative), You can add boiled eggs to the top of the salad when serving with runny or cooked yolks. I sometimes like to add tuna chunks to the dish, it makes a great protein addition and tastes great.
Health Benefits
Beans
These have multiple health benefits. They are a great low fat addition to a meal that is also high in fibre and protein. This means they make you feel fuller for longer so are a great food for assisting in weight management. Due to the low fat, high fibre content these are also are ideal to help lower blood cholesterol and blood pressure. Their fibre content can help to improve digestive health. As beans have a low glycemic load they can help prevent spikes in blood sugar levels. These beans contain vitamin B (these are important for both the cardiovascular and nervous system), vitamin E (great for skin, eyesight and the immune system), vitamin K (good for bones and clotting blood). They also contain potassium which can help to lower blood pressure.
Tomatoes
These are a great food that are a dietary essential. Tomatoes are also low in calories and they contain fibre, and potassium alongside vitamins A and C. These vitamins are antioxidants which can help with collagen production and also with our immune systems. Tomatoes also contain lycopene which is also an antioxidant. This is thought to help prevent heart disease as well as some types of cancers. Tomatoes also have a high water content. This combined with their fibre content can help promote good gut health.
Cucumber
Another ingredient with a high water content. These contain vitamin K which helps with bone health. They are also low in calories so are a great option to snack on daily. Cucumbers also contain beta carotene. This antioxidant as well as others help fight free radicals which would otherwise cause cell damage and lead to disease. These antioxidants also help to reduce oxidative stress which in turn can protect against cardiovascular disease and other conditions.
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Other Recipes You Might Like:
Courgette, Spinach, and Bean Salad
Beetroot, Rocket, Avocado and Feta Salad
Crispy Duck, Hoisin and Cucumber salad
Tomato and Mozzarella salad with Mixed Leaves
Wilted Spinach, Bacon & Egg Salad
Tomato, Mixed leaf, Lentil, Feta and Olive Salad
Lentil, Feta, Tomato and Hummus Salad Wrap
Asian style Turkey, Chicken or Duck salad
I hope you have enjoyed reading my latest recipe, Bean Avocado Spinach and Tomato Salad. As you can see, this is a really healthy and tasty option and super easy to make. It’s a great salad to that can be enjoyed on it’s own, with adjustments, or as a side to another dish.
Do you enjoy eating salads too? What types of salads to you like most?
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My favourite is feta cheese and watermelon salad, the two taste amazing together. This salad looks really good with all those wonderful bright healthy colours.
That is such a yummy salad. You could also add a touch of chopped fresh mint, or swap the cheese for halloumi which works well too. This one is really good, you’ll love it.
I love this salad so much! It’s so healthy but it’s also so good. I’m definitely going to be making this one.
I bet you’ll love it!!! enjoy x
This is one tasty salad. I loved the way the ingredients worked together! I had it with ranch. I know that kind of defeats the purpose of making such a healthy dish, but it was so good!
It sure is. If you don’t use too much dressing you’ll be fine, enjoy x
oh I totally agree with the making salads as exciting as you like! I do a lovely Greek salad but I add a few non traditional ingredients and some garlic salt! super yum.
Garlic salt makes a great addition as do onion granules. You can add all sorts of fresh herbs as well as dried to add flavour.
I love to have salads for lunch. This looks a fantastic one. I will be sure to make it in the future. Avocados truly make me happy!
The do make fabulous meals all on their own.
Yuuuummy! This salad mixture sounds like it would be perfect for a fresh and easy lunch. I’m going to whip it up tomorrow afternoon.
It is a n easy one to make and can be a light lunch depending on how much you eat.
Oh my gosh, this salad looks so tasty! I love to add beans into my salad for extra protein and to fill me up even more.
They do make a great addition to many meals.
I started adding salads back to my meals. They help not only to satiate my cravings but some salads are very tasty. I can’t wait to try this one! I’d been thinking about making guac lately but why not make a bean avocado salad instead!
Maureen
This one is amazing. I hope you love it as much as I do.
I love how easy and healthy this salad is, and I can already imagine how much my family would enjoy it.
It is a great salad and one I really love. It’ll be popular with any of your family that enjoy salad too.
I have made something similar with chickpeas. I don’t eat white beans often, and it would be nice to mix things up. Plus the spinach is a wonderful addition for nutrition.
Chickpeas are great too, you can make loads of great dishes with them. Spinach makes a fab addition and is really good for us.
I’ve been into salad these past few weeks. I will surely try this recipe and share it with my family.
It is the season for it now as we’re all working on our summer prep. I hope they like it as much as we do.
This looks so good 😋! My husband likes regular avocado + cucumber salad. So, I’ll definitely try your healthy salad recipe. I’m sure he’ll love it ❤️.
I am sure he will x
This sounds really yummy. I love avocado and with the bean twist it is a meal in itself!
It really is filling and very nutritious
This is my kind of meal…Healthy, filling, and packed with flavor! Love the combination of beans and avocado for extra protein and creaminess YUMMY!!!
This is a great meal for any day
When it comes to salads, I love a good salad that isn’t all lettuces! Thank you for sharing such a simple and easy to make recipe – I’ll bookmark it for later
I hope you like it Jupiter x
My kind of salad ideal for my Vegetarian Diet,thanks for sharing
It is yummy!!!
Looks really good – love a nice salad as we get into better weather!
We do tend o crave salads more when the weather starts improving
This sounds incredible – tasty and healthy too. I definitely want to try it!
It is lovely and filling too x
This looks very nice, I will certainly try this next week for the family.
I hope you like it as much as we do x