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December 27, 2008

Kidney Bean and Pasta Salad





There is nothing permanent except change. That’s something I completely believe in. About a month ago, our diet plan underwent a complete makeover. The weather has also been very conducive. We eat stuffed parathas, salads, and filling snacks during the day and end the day with hot soup. While I try to plan ahead, there are times when I have no idea what to make. I usually try and buy vegetables for the week over the weekend. I then chop them according to different needs and then freeze them in freezer bags. That way, I can throw in a handful of vegetables into just about anything and turn any dish into a complete meal.


This is one of those “make-it-up-as-you-go” salads. I had a can of kidney beans and wanted to use it up. Rajma wasn’t on my mind. So I decided to pair it with some pasta and vegetables. Nothing unusual about that, I agree. The dressing is what took this salad to the next level. I was in an experimental mood that morning and this colourful salad was the result.



1 cup Pasta, prepared according to instructions on the pack
1 can Red Kidney Beans, drained
1 cup Mixed Vegetables, diced and cooked


For the dressing:

1 tbsp Olive Oil
2-3 pods Garlic, chopped
1 Onion, diced
¼ cup Capsicum, chopped
¼ cup Carrots, chopped
1 Tomato, chopped
2 tsp Chilli Flakes
1 tsp Oregano
½ tsp Basil
½ tsp Parsley
Salt to taste


To prepare the dressing, heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic and onion and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the capsicum and fry for another minute. Add the chilli flakes, oregano, basil, parsley and salt and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the tomato and carrots and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Grind this mixture to a paste.


To proceed, place the kidney beans, pasta and vegetables in a bowl. Add the dressing and toss well.


The dressing is like chutney. It works very well in sandwiches and with crackers. All in all, this is a keeper recipe.


I'm sending this to
Sug as she hosts this month's edition of My Legume Love Affair.

8 comments:

pink dogwood said...

I was googling 'vegetable makhanwala' and happened upon your recipe. Just tried it - I added cubes of fried potatoes and cubes of fried paneer (I know very unheathy :)) - it came out very good - just wanted to thank you.

Bhavana

Sig said...

Wow, this dressing sounds amazing! I love it...

sra said...

You're really organised. I do that pre-chopping only rarely. Today was one such day as I'm having guests.

Happy New Year, Raaga, it was fun to meet you and looking forward to meeting you again.

Aarti said...

Hey lady

Eppadi irukka? enna plans for new year??/

nice recipe..shall sure try it out sometime.. ippothaikku all am doing is lazing abt and chilling out as much as possi.. and looking fwd to colleague/friend's wedding on jan 5th!! :D

Cynthia said...

I like the meatiness that kidney beans offer to any salad, especially a pasta salad.

Red Chillies said...

i love your diet plans and I wish I had something like that :-(
Totally new combination and looks good.

Namratha said...

Two of my fav ingredients in one...this couldn't get better! Good one Raaga :)

CinnamonNChillies said...

Hi Raaga
You have an amazing and vast collection of salad's. I tried this one and it turned out great. My addition to this pasta was a ready made tomato and basil pasta sauce, which added yummy flavour.

I am a resident of Delhi (statying near Gurgaon area), I used to work in Gurgaon and also travel to Noida office at times. I feel good to see a blogger so nearby my place. I am also awed by the fact that you take out time dedicatedly to be creative and blog regularly, inspite of travelling from Gurgaon to Noida for work. I am a Tamilian so happy to see the south Indian touch to your recipes. Keep in touch.