Easy Dense Bean Salad Base for Easy Meal Prep

This is a simple dense bean salad base because I don't like soggy salads, and several additions to these types of salads make the salad sad rather than spectacular.

I would rather add something immediately before serving to keep things interesting than eat the same thing day after day

Ingredients for the base

1 can of white beans, rinsed and drained (Great Northern, cannellini or butter beans all work well)

1 can of chick peas/garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 cup cucumbers, chopped (Persian cucumbers stay crunchy longer if you can get them)

Banana peppers or whatever type of peppers you like to taste

1/3 of a cup of olives, chopped (again, whatever type you like. I prefer Castelvetrano)

1/4 cup of your favorite vinaigrette (I'm partial to G Hughes Sugar Free Balsamic, but you do what you like)

Add each of the ingredients into a large bowl and stir. Voila! You have your base.

The following are some of my favorite pre-serving add in variations

Cooked corn - steamed or preferable pan fried with a bit of carmelization

Cooked/caramelized onion - I like to cook them ahead and give them a quick warm up in the microwave

Steamed green beans - again, cooked ahead or warmed up before eating, both work

Feta Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Grape tomatoes

Rotisserie chicken - Added protein and someone else cooks. Yay!

Steak bites - I get mine from Costco and they make salad prep so easy

Crispy onions (gluten free in my case)

Thawed frozen peas - Honestly, they taste so good

Edamame - like the peas, I often buy frozen and let them thaw in the fridge, but you can cook them too

I also occasionally sneak in some flax meal or nutritional yeast for a huge nutrition boost, but you do what makes your heart happy