SWEETCORN

CHOPPED SALAD OF SWEETCORN, SOYA BEANS AND QUINOA WITH LEMON-BASIL DRESSING

Salad eaters can be divided into two groups: chopped devotees who claim in every bite you can get a little bit of everything, and tossed salad traditionalists who sniffily suggest chopped is the lazy approach to salad, turning all those small chunks into a homogenous gloop. In this combo, no gloop – the chopped salad eaters win out.

PREPARATION TIME: 25 minutes | COOKING TIME: 15 minutes | SERVES: 8

1 cup (250ml/9 fl oz) water

1 /3 cup (65 g/2¼ oz) quinoa, rinsed

1 cup (200 g/7 oz) sweetcorn kernels

1 cup (170 g/6 oz) tinned black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup (170 g/6 oz) tinned red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1½ cups (250 g/9 oz) shelled fresh soya beans (edamame)

1 red capsicum (pepper), deseeded and chopped

1 large handful coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped

6 spring onions (green onions/scallions), sliced

4 garlic cloves, crushed

½ cup (125 ml/4 fl oz) lemon juice

¼ cup (60 ml/2 fl oz) salt-reduced soy sauce

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 handful basil leaves, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

Put the water and quinoa in a pot and bring to the boil over medium–high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender. Drain thoroughly.

Put the quinoa, corn, well-drained black and red beans, soya beans, capsicum, coriander and spring onions in a large bowl. Whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, soy sauce, mustard and oil in a bowl. Pour over the salad and toss lightly. Cover and chill for an hour before serving. This is also lovely served with grilled fish, chicken or burgers.

TIP Tinned beans can have a tremendous amount of salt and must be well rinsed in cold water before using. Although rinsing helps, it won’t eliminate the salt cooked into the beans. If possible, buy the salt-reduced variety.