Bean and Grilled Pineapple Salad

This salad must be one of the easiest to prepare, mouth-watering, satisfying and healthy fulfilling meal. This combination of flavours is an explosion on the palate; it combines sweet, spicy, salty, peppery and sour. With the mélange of healthy and satisfying vegetables, I call it guilt-free celestial comfort food. What more would one want?

Beans and legumes are rich in plant protein and contain amino acids, which are the protein building blocks that the body uses to heal and make new tissues, such as bone, muscle, hair, skin, and blood. They are also rich in fibre and have a low glycemic index, which means it releases energy to the body slowly, making them ideal for diabetic patients. Between the beans and pineapple, the salad contains B-vitamins, iron, folate, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, vitamin C, manganese and antioxidants.

This salad is ideal for summer entertaining or a meal on the go.

Check out my chilli con Carne and vegetarian bean chilli if you are a fan.

Servings: 1 sharing

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Start to finish: 25 minutes.

grilling: 4 minutes

Ingredients:

400 grams cooked pinto beans or any variety

350 grams corn kernels

400 grams pineapple

2 sticks celery

1 clove garlic

1 red chilli

1 grilled red pepper

4 green onion ends

A handful of coriander leaf

Lime juice to taste

Salt to taste

½ teaspoon cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

Method:

· Peel and cube the pineapple, then skewer them, as seen in the video.

· Preheated BBQ on high. Grill the pineapple for 1 minute on each side, just enough to caramelise the natural sugars.

· Coarsely chop the celery and add to a bowl and minced garlic clove, chopped chilli, cooked beans and corn.

· Chop the green ends of the onions, the coriander and the grilled pepper and add to the bowl.

· Season with salt and pepper, add the cooled grilled pineapple and finish with lime juice to taste and a drizzle of olive oil.

· Serve as is or with lean grilled chicken breasts.

Per Serving: 1221 Calories; 32g Fat (21.9% calories from fat); 46g Protein; 209g Carbohydrate; 50g Dietary Fibre; 0mg Cholesterol; 1054mg Sodium.