Bejeweled Legume Salad #HolidaySideDishes

This week Heather of Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks rounded up a group of bloggers to share holiday side dish recipes. I completely blitzed on getting my Monday post done as we were gone all weekend at a robotics competition. But I was determined to finish my other two. Before I get to that, however, please check out the other recipes for the day...

• Bejeweled Legume Salad from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Best Easy Homemade Stuffing from Daily Dish Recipes
• Broccoli Casserole from Palatable Pastime
• Farro Salad with Cranberries, Spinach, and Feta from Sweet Beginnings
• Healthy Candied Sweet Potato Casserole from Simple and Savory
• Lighter Green Bean Casserole from Cookaholic Wife
• Roasted Parmesan Carrots from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Shrimp Stir Fry Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Southern Cornbread Dressing from Everyday Eileen
• Stuffing with Sausage and Chestnuts from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Vegan Broccoli Cheese Casserole from The Baking Fairy
• Cheesy Baked Mashed Potatoes from Family Around the Table


Bejeweled Legume Salad



This is a hearty salad that I usually make with French green lentils, but I made it with heirloom beans for this version. It's beautiful to look at and hearty enough to be filling. If you need it vegetarian, just skip the chicken broth and substitute a veggie broth or water for cooking the beans...or use canned beans to make it an even easier preparation. This is also really flexible; the only thing is that you need lots of colors. So, instead of carrots, use sweet potatoes. Or instead of cherries, use cranberries. Get creative.


Ingredients serves 8 to 10



Salad
• 4 C cooked beans or lentils (HOW TO: Cook Dried Beans), cooked in chicken broth
• 3/4 C diced onions
• 3/4 C carrot coins
• 3/4 C sliced celery
• 1/2 C dried cherries (susbstitute dried cranberries, if you wish)
• 1/2 C fresh pomegranate arils
• 2 T olive oil
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper


Dressing


• 2/3 C olive oil
• 5 T golden balsamic vinegar (substitute aged balsamic, if you wish)
• 1 t maple syrup
• 1 vanilla pod, sliced lengthwise, seeds scraped
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper
• Also needed a lidded mason jar
Procedure



Dressing
Place all ingredients in a lidded mason jar and shake to combine. Set aside. Remove the pod before dressing the salad.




Salad
Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Stir in the onions, carrots, and celery. Cook until desired level of doneness; I prefer them with a little bit of crunch still.




Place onions, carrots, and celery in a large mixing bowl. Add in dried cherries, pomegranate arils, and cooked beans. Toss to coat with dressing and let stand for at least 30 minutes.





I actually used this legume salad underneath some lingcod topped with caramelized onions this week. Delish!