Friday, May 15, 2009

Three Bean and Cilantro Salad

Oh my gosh, I made a "take off" of one of MckMama's recipes (sorry, I don't know how to do the little linkie thing but I am going to learn soon) and it was awesome. I served this with a ground sirloin dish on whole wheat tortillas. I will try to get that recipe on before the end of the weekend.






I used these ingredients (all except the oregano--decided not to use that)
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
drain and wash all beans
1 cucumber chopped--I like to leave it in medium-sized chunks
several grape tomatoes or if using cherry tomatoes cut in half
1 bunch of green onions sliced--I use about half of the green part also
1 large handful of cilantro--this is NOT optional--I chop it but not a lot
about 1/4 cup of pine nuts
1/2 to 1 tsp. of oregano--if you like more, put more--just go easy til you get it just right)

sea salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste
about 3 T. of olive oil
about 2 T of lemon juice or to taste--I like it really tangy
about 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of Splenda (this is the secret ingredient)
1 squirt of lime juice-a tsp or so
You can eat this right away or refrigerate it for 30 minutes to an hour before serving. It is good either way.
Right before serving, I put about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of fat-free feta cheese on it and mix in--
ENJOY! I made this for the first time today and it was wonderful. My daughter-in-law stopped by and I gave her a bowl. She snarfed it down and said it was perfect and wanted the recipe.
If you are so natural that you don't use Splenda, I guess you will have to forego this recipe, no, just kidding, I think a tiny bit of sugar would do--just don't get it too sweet. Go easy.