Salad with Potato, Beans & Olives
Boil the potatoes, chop the vegetables, whisk a dressing, toss. Fifteen minutes from cutting board to plate, and the bowl that lands is anything but rushed. Baby potatoes and cannellini beans give this salad the kind of weight that keeps you full through the afternoon, while olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and a balsamic-oregano vinaigrette pull it firmly into Mediterranean territory.
The olive oil in the dressing is doing more than you'd think. Research has found that fat from olive oil helps your body pull more of the natural pigments in colorful vegetables like bell pepper and sun-dried tomatoes. Without fat in the meal, most of those pigments pass straight through. With it, your body pulls significantly more of them in.
Boil the potatoes, chop the vegetables, whisk a dressing, toss. Fifteen minutes from cutting board to plate, and the bowl that lands is anything but rushed. Baby potatoes and cannellini beans give this salad the kind of weight that keeps you full through the afternoon, while olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and a balsamic-oregano vinaigrette pull it firmly into Mediterranean territory.
The olive oil in the dressing is doing more than you'd think. Research has found that fat from olive oil helps your body pull more of the natural pigments in colorful vegetables like bell pepper and sun-dried tomatoes. Without fat in the meal, most of those pigments pass straight through. With it, your body pulls significantly more of them in.
Ingredients
- baby potatoes 227 g
- cannellini beans 168 g
- bell pepper 1
- red onion 0.25
- olives 8 pieces
- sun-dried tomatoes 5 pieces
- mixed salad 30 g
- olive oil 23 ml
- balsamic vinegar 8 ml
- oregano dried 2 g
Method
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Wash the potatoes and cut them in half.
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Place them in a pot with water and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Drain and let them cool slightly.
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Drain the beans.
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Meanwhile, cut the bell pepper into small strips, the onion into thin rings and chop the olives and sun-dried tomatoes into small pieces.
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In a bowl, combine the potato, beans, bell pepper, onion, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and salad.
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In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, oregano and salt and pepper to taste.
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Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.
Toss the potatoes with the dressing while they are still slightly warm. Warm potatoes absorb more of the olive oil and balsamic than cold ones, so the flavor soaks into the flesh instead of sitting on the surface.
Why This Works
Behind this recipe
Should I eat this salad warm or cold?
Both work. The recipe says to let the potatoes cool slightly, which means you can eat it at room temperature. Chilling it fully is fine too. Research has actually found that potatoes form more resistant starch as they cool, a type of starch your body handles more like fiber than like a regular carbohydrate. So a cold version is not just convenient, it slightly changes the nutritional profile.
Read the full evidence reviewWhy does the dressing use olive oil instead of another oil?
Flavor is the obvious reason, but there is a less obvious one. Research has found that fat from olive oil helps the body absorb fat-soluble pigments from vegetables. Bell pepper and sun-dried tomatoes are rich in carotenoids, which are those red and orange pigments. Without fat in the meal, most of them pass through your system without being absorbed. Olive oil acts as a vehicle that carries them across the intestinal wall.
Read the full evidence reviewIs 19 grams of protein enough for a full meal?
That comes down to your total daily intake and how you split it across meals. For someone eating four or five meals a day at around 2,000 calories, 19 grams in a single sitting is a reasonable portion of their daily total. The protein here comes entirely from plants, mainly the cannellini beans and potatoes. If you want to bump it up, adding grilled chicken or a hard-boiled egg works without changing the base recipe.
