My diet has been fairly uninspired lately and when that happens I find myself eating more and more processed foods. Today I went to the library to see if I could find inspiration in some cookbooks there. My library has lots of cookbooks but only a few vegetarian ones. Not all the vegetarian ones can be described as healthy. I love Passionate Vegetarian because it is a cookbook that reads like a novel but if I cooked like that all the time I’d be 827 lbs in no time.
But today I found a book that I hadn’t seen before. From a Monastery Kitchen. It is full of simple dishes made from whole, fresh ingredients. It includes a few fish recipes but is mostly vegetarian. I’m in love.
I made a variation of the Rainbow Bean Salad to fit my tastes and what I had at home.
1 can chickpeas
1 can black beans
1 can white beans
1 can three bean blend
1 diced yellow pepper
Drain and rinse all the beans in a colander and add yellow pepper. Transfer to a gallon sized ziploc bag.
Basil finely chopped
1 T mustard
1 T lemon juice
2 T olive oil
Mix these ingredients in a separate container and pour into the ziploc bag. Close the bag and shake to mix. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.
Simple, fast, and it makes enough of the salad to last all week.
