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Batch 015

Mixed
bean salad.

Light meal Batch 015
20 minutes Serves 6

A salad designed to live in the fridge for the week. Two kinds of beans, raw vegetables cut to roughly the size of a chickpea, olives, lemon and good olive oil. It improves overnight as the dressing settles into everything, and works as a side or as lunch with bread.

A bowl of mixed bean salad with finely diced colourful vegetables
Tested by Sinead in our Lisbon kitchen.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups chickpeas or white beans, drained
  • 2 cups kidney or black beans, drained
  • 1 large beetroot, finely diced
  • 2 medium carrots, finely diced
  • 1/2 red onion, finely diced
  • 1 red or orange pepper, finely diced
  • 3 baby cucumbers, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • Half a jar of olives, pitted and roughly chopped
  • Juice of 1 lemon or lime
  • 2 tbsp cold-pressed olive oil
  • 3 tbsp olive oil and vinegar dressing
  • Flaky sea salt and black pepper, to taste
  • Fresh dill, coriander or parsley, to finish
Method
  1. Rinse and drain both kinds of beans and tip them into a large bowl.
  2. Cut all the vegetables to roughly the same size as a chickpea, so each forkful gets a bit of everything.
  3. Add the diced beetroot, carrots, red onion, pepper, cucumber, garlic and olives to the bowl.
  4. Pour over the lemon juice, olive oil and dressing. Season generously with salt and pepper.
  5. Toss everything together until the dressing coats the beans.
  6. Cover and let it sit for at least 30 minutes for the flavours to settle. Garnish with fresh herbs before serving.
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"It keeps well for about five days in the fridge. A little chilli oil at the table is no bad thing."
— from the kitchen, on this recipe
Common questions

A few things people ask.

Five days in the fridge, in a covered container. It's at its best between days two and four, once the dressing has settled into everything. By day five the cucumber starts to soften; eat that one first.
Yes. 100g of dried chickpeas and 100g of dried kidney beans, soaked overnight and cooked separately until just tender, gives you the right quantity. Cool them fully before they meet the dressing, otherwise the warm beans go mushy as they absorb the lemon and oil.
No, and we wouldn't try. The raw vegetables turn to water on thawing and the beans go floury. This is a fridge salad, not a freezer one. The whole design is for it to live in the fridge for the week, which is its purpose.
So every forkful gets a bit of everything. Larger pieces mean some bites are all beetroot, some all cucumber, and the salad loses its rhythm. It's a small-knife job that takes ten minutes; put the radio on.
Yes. Within a few hours, the whole salad takes on a pinkish blush. That's part of its character (the rainbow becomes more of a sunset). If you want the colours to stay distinct, dice the beetroot last and stir it in just before serving.
Yes to both, as written. Just check the dressing if you're using a bottled one; some Caesar-style or honey-mustard dressings sneak in dairy or anchovy. Our suggestion of olive oil, lemon and a basic vinaigrette keeps it clean.

Cooked, tested and written by Sinead McInerney in our Lisbon kitchen. Last reviewed: April 2026.