Italian bean salad is inspiraton from one salad dish I used to make every day. 🥗
That was in my teen years when I worked in the pantry of an italian restaurant with marble floors where you could hear silverware drop like a drum band.
…Those young years, I was responsible for lunch salads and desserts served at the tables that I could see from the open-style kitchen.
While the job was a summer one, the salad is one that stuck with me for many decades later when I became a food service professional… and can be one that you make.
It’s loaded with Italian ingredient greats… like gorgonzola, radicchio, and arugula that have distinct flavors.
Those are common in big American grocery stores where you can play a version of Guy’s Grocery Games 😊 as they’re usually hiding among the salads, produce, and cheeses.
Maybe see how long it takes you to find them camouflaged amongst the greens… and cheeses. 🧀
No green cheese, but blue healthy moldy cheese. Penicillium Roqueforti is mold that gives the blue veining easy to point out.
That makes it easier to find the cheese in the grocery store.
…And as for time, shopping will take the longest from sourcing (or farm) to table as salad prep can be quick and I think is relaxing, even though this Italian bean salad has 11 ingredient types to add.
If you can’t find radicchio, you can also substitute for Belgian endive, and blue cheese or a French cheese for gorgonzola.
Then you’d have an Italian-French salad.
They are worth the hunt as their flavors add interesting variety.
And eating variety is healthy for our microbiome guts. As you peruse, you’ll probably explore different sections of your grocery store than just around the perimeter for the staples.
And some may be right under your nose (like it was for me in my shopping adventure)…
I got lucky as there was a big gorgonzola cheese wheel that looks like a cake.
…So it wasn’t likely to be a miss. 🎂
Packaged up, you can’t smell the cheese… but imagine if it were open 🤔, that would have also attracted attention.
This good moldy cow’s milk cheese is a milder blue cheese. It doesn’t have such a funky aroma like a strong smelling blue cheese that purposefully smells rotten (but is healthy).
The cheese is named after the Gorgonzola northern Italian town it came from that’s famous for the blue veined cheese.
As a creamy cheese (almost like a cream cheese texture but not quite as creamy), it blends in with all the flavorful ingredients of this bean Italian Salad.
The beans are what make this Italian bean salad pennies per bite.
Added cannellini beans are the white beans…
And like most beans, they are high in protein and fiber good for losing weight and a healthy diet.
Beans are almost always great adds for soups and salads.
These cannellini ones are used in main Italian soups like Tuscan Ribollita and is one you can substitute in an everyday minestrone.
Beans can sometimes be boring, but you won’t be missing any bites in this salad as each one is flavorfully loaded.
It’s great for intuitive or mindful eating to slow down and lavish the flavors.
You’ll also get more flavors from the walnuts and apples (or pears). This is a fully nutritious bowl that’s a mouthfully fun experience to chew on…
You get bitter (arugula, radicchio), slightly sweet (onions), citrusy, herby (pesto), acidic (balsamic) and balanced (spices).
You get soft (beans), creamy (gorgonzola), salty (capers), and crunchy (apple, walnuts) textures.
Ready to make this flavorful Italian bean salad? 🥗
Italian Bean Salad
Ingredients
- arugula salad
- radicchio
- cannellini beans (white beans)
- gorgonzola cheese (milder blue cheese) crumbles
- pesto sauce (basil, pine nuts)
- balsalmic vineger
- oregano, lemon pepper, coriander, parsley
- white onions (Vidalia or cipollino onion)
- apple or pear (diced or sliced)
- walnuts (optonal)
- capers
Instructions
- Add a bed of arugula.
- Fill a radicchio leaf with a mixture of beans, cheese, capers, and onion.
- Add fruit and walnut on the salad. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar (or light vinegar of choice as an alternative) and pesto. Flavor with spices.
