A protein and veggie packed salad that gets better with time and you can eat it all week long. The combo of sausage, beans, and cheese packs in over 30g of protein per serving (for 5 servings). I love adding raw and cooked veggies into salads, so we’re quickly blanching some broccolini and adding lots of crunchy raw veggies. Pepperoncini add a little tangy spice and lots of fresh herbs stand in as a flavorful and nutrient-dense salad green.
Ingredient highlight
Beans! are a great way to get in some protein along with a heavy dose of fiber, complex carbs, folic acid, iron, magnesium, and potassium to name a few. They are famous for making you fart (hehe) because of the specific sugars (oligosaccharides) they contain that we have trouble breaking down. Cooking your beans from scratch reduces the fart-causing substances!
Any easy way to sneak beans into recipes is to replace 1/2 of the meat with beans so you still get the meaty flavor but with a major fiber boost.
Servings 4 – 6 (about 9 cups)
Prep Time 2 minutes 
Cook Time 2 minutes Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped broccolini or broccoli rabe
- 2 (15 oz) cans of beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups chopped crunchy veggies (cucumber, radish, bell pepper, and/or cabbage)
- 2 cups fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, or dill), chopped
- 2 cups chopped or crumbled cooked sausage (or any protein of choice – ham, salami, grilled chicken or steak, boiled eggs)
- 1 cup (5 oz) crumbled, grated or chopped cheese (provolone, feta, parmesan, cheddar, mozzarella)
- ¼-½ cup chopped pepperoncini (or use pickled jalapeños or any pickled veg)
- ¼ red onion, thinly sliced (or use the light parts of scallions)
For the dressing:
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- *To make this a “no cooking” recipe, you could replace the broccoli with a jarred vegetable, like artichoke hearts OR use regular raw broccoli, chopped finely.
- Note: ~ you can use any meat, veg, or cheese, but my favorite combo was inspired by my favorite Italian sandwich – broccoli rabe (rapini) or broccolini, sausage, and provolone.
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and season it with salt. Add the broccoli rabe or broccolini and boil for 1 minute or until “al dente” (you still want a crunch/bite to it). Drain, spread it out, and set aside. If using the more leafy broccoli rabe, squeeze out any excess water once it’s cooled off a bit.
- Add the beans to a medium microwavable bowl and microwave them for 20-30 seconds just to warm them up. Always do this with beans in salads so that they absorb the flavors better.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth. Add the broccolini/broccoli rabe, warm beans, veggies, herbs, protein, cheese, pepperoncini, and red onion. Toss to coat.
- Serve topped with black pepper.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Chop and blanch 4 cups broccolini
- Chop 2 cups crunchy veggies
- Chop 2 cups fresh herbs
- Cook and chop 2 cups worth sausage (or other protein)
- Crumble, grate or chop 1 cup cheese
- Chop or thinly slice ¼-½ cup pepperoncini
- Thinly slice ¼ red onion
- Make the dressing
- Make the salad
Substitutions:
- To make vegetarian, skip the meat or use a vegetarian sausage.
- The salad won’t be nearly as good without meat or cheese, but to make it vegan you can leave them out and replace with more beans or veggies to keep the serving size the same. You’ll want to add more salt as well or a dash of soy sauce.
- Use broccoli in place of broccolini – make sure you only boil it for a minute or less because you want the broccoli to still be a little crunchy, not mushy.
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 6 days.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- This salad tastes best at room temp – I like to either let it sit out for a few minutes or pop it in the microwave for 20 seconds or until it’s no longer cold.
- You can also just eat it chilled right out of the fridge!
- Top with a fried or boiled egg and more cheese.
- Eat it with a side of toast or a grilled cheese.
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