LuAnn's Fiesta Edamame Salad

Colorful and flavorful, this salad is a fiesta in a bowl! Edamame are green (immature) soybeans, similar to baby limas, but with the nutritional benefits of whole soy. They can be purchased fresh in the pod in some larger produce markets. Some supermarkets, and whole and natural food markets stock frozen edamame, already removed from the pods and blanched, which can be added directly to recipes without further cooking. I prefer to boil blanched edamame for five to ten minutes before adding them to recipes, such as this salad, which will not be cooked before serving.

Yield: 10 cups; 20 (1/2 cup) servings

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) bag frozen edamame (hulled green soybeans)
• 1 (16 ounce) bag frozen corn
• 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 purple or orange bell pepper, diced
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 (6 ounce) can ripe olives, drained, halved or sliced
• 1 cup Italian dressing
• 1/4 cup fresh minced cilantro
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
• Salt (to taste)

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, bring about 1 cup of water to a boil over high heat. Add the frozen edamame and corn, bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-high and cook for 10 minutes. Edamame should still be bright and tender-crisp.
2. Drain and cool.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, and olives, placing them in a large bowl. Add the soybeans and corn. Stir in the Italian dressing, cilantro, and garlic. Add salt to taste.
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until the salad thoroughly chilled, stirring several times to redistribute the dressing.

Attribution

This recipe and accompanying notes are from my cookbook, Amazing Meals I by LuAnn Bermeo, Lithotech, 2007. Please respect copyright by sharing recipe with its source. For purchase information, contact the author at luann6@msn.com.