- August 9, 2022
- by Amy Gorin, MS, RDN
- 0 Comments
Italian Lupini Bean Salad with Crushed Pistachio
This lupini bean salad with crushed pistachio is a delicious high-fiber side dish. The Italian lupini beans make the dish hearty.
Hello, super tasty lupini beans recipe! This lupini recipe makes a great addition to any warm meal. Or you can pair it with a side baked sweet potato or roasted squash for a full meal.
You can also serve it for snack time, for a get together with friends, or on top of a lunch or dinner salad. The lupini salad makes a great quickie appetizer that’s also delicious and packed with nutrients.
Lawrence and I ate this salad for dinner last night. You could pair it with a green salad, or you can do what we did and pair it with whole-grain toast topped with sliced avocado.
The combo was delish, and the chopped pistachios adds such a nice crunch!
Ingredients
This quick lupini bean salad has a base of the beans, and the flavor is jazzed up with whole-grain mustard and red pepper flakes.
To make a lupini bean salad, you’ll need a handful of ingredients:
Baby spinach: This leafy green adds fiber, vitamins, and minerals to the salad.
Lupini beans: These beans pack in lots of nutrition! Per just a half-cup serving, you get 9 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber. That means the beans are an excellent source of protein and a good source of fiber.
You also get other nutrients, like a little bit of calcium and iron. When it comes to lupini beans calories, there are about 135 per serving.
Like most pre-cooked beans, jarred lupini beans are higher in sodium––and when you buy them jarred, they’re typically packaged in salt water. So I would suggest draining and rinsing them before you use them.
The beans look similar to large, flat fava beans. How are lupini beans grown? They tend to grow in temperate to cool climates and in Mediterranean locales, which is one reason they’re just coming better known in America.
Whole-grain Dijon mustard: This condiments adds a spicy kick.
Olive oil: You’ll add just a little for a dose of healthy fats.
Pistachios: I topped my creation with chopped pistachios for extra crunch and extra protein. You see, as a dietitian, I want to make sure the vegan dishes I’m creating offer plenty of fueling protein!
Wondering how to crush pistachios? Just put the nuts in a zip-top plastic bag, then you can either crush with a meat tenderizer or really anything on the heavier side, such as a can of beans.
By the way, the pistachio pieces also work well for making pistachio-crusted tofu, salmon, or chicken breast.
Helpful kitchen tools
You may find these items helpful when making a lupini bean salad:
Step-by-step instructions
Here’s a secret: I don’t love to spend hours in the kitchen. I very much enjoy the process of cooking, but I’m often in a hurry. (Life is busy, after all!) And so I’m really a fan of healthy meals in a flash.
We eat a lot of beans in my house. My husband, Lawrence, and I will often make a quick lunch or dinner with chickpeas or kidney beans.
Recently, I’ve been really into the lupini bean. I love to eat lupini beans in a salad. They’re not extremely bitter beans at all, and I consider them pretty hearty!
Making a lupini bean salad is super easy: First, drain and rinse the lupini beans to get rid of any excess sodium. The place spinach at the bottom of a small bowl; set aside.
In another small bowl, mix together beans, mustard, olive oil, red pepper, and black pepper. Top with pistachios. And then enjoy!
Recipe FAQ
Lupini beans are often sold in glass jars in the ethnic food section of the grocery store, and you can buy them online, as well. The best part is you don’t have to know how to prepare lupini beans, because the type sold in a jar requires no preparation.
FYI that you’ll sometimes see the beans called “lupine beans” or “lupin beans.”
If you want to cook your own dried lupini beans, you definitely can. You’ll want to rinse the beans, place them in a large pot, and cover them with fresh, cold water.
Then you’ll bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer for about 45 to 50 minutes. Next, you’ll drain the beans and place them in a large bowl covered with water.
Finally, you’ll begin draining and rinsing the beans about three to four times a day, for about five days. As you can see, it’s a pretty laborious process which is why I prefer the jarred beans that are ready to eat!
You can make a simple dressing with olive oil, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. You can also try a simple pomegranate vinaigrette.
More bean recipes
Looking for more recipes with beans? Here are a few of my favorites:
- Vegetarian Rice Bowl
- Grain Bowl with Maple-Dijon Dressing
- Vegetarian Lentils
- White Bean Pizza
- Healthy Roasted Chickpeas
Italian Lupini Bean Salad with Crushed Pistachio
Ingredients
- ½ cup baby spinach
- 1 cup jarred lupini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tbsp whole-grain Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- Dash black pepper
- 1½ tbsp no-salt pistachios, crushed
Instructions
- Place spinach at the bottom of a small bowl; set aside.
- In another small bowl, mix together beans, mustard, olive oil, red pepper, and black pepper.
- Top with pistachios.
Nutrition
What are your favorite lupini beans recipes? I’d love to hear about your most-loved recipes with beans. and fewer net carbs. Let me know how you enjoy this lupini bean recipe!
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