With a mint and lemon vinaigrette

Celebrating Spring Equinox and brightening up your day with this vibrant green bean and pea salad tossed in a lemon and mint vinaigrette. As the days get longer and warmer, we start to crawl out of hibernation mode and crave foods that will give us energy. This salad will do just that as it is high in fibre, vegetable protein, chlorophyl, vitamin K, vitamin C, beta-carotene and iron. These legumes will help aid digestion, help to control your blood sugar levels and give you lots of energy!

Salad Ingredients

• green beans

• podded fresh peas

• snap peas

• pea sprouts or sprouts of your preference

vinaigrette Ingredients

• a few sprigs of fresh mint

• handful of fresh parsley

• 1/2 shallot

• 1 garlic clove

• zest of 1 lemon

• juice of 1 lemon

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1 tbsp honey

• pinch of salt and pepper

• feel free to add additional herbs of your choice

Method

1. There are no measurements for these greens as you can use as much or a s little of each ingredient as you like. I like to add lots of podded peas!

2. Bring the water to a boil in a medium size pot, add the beans and cover with a lid to steam. Reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes. If you have a steamer, you can use that instead.

3. While the green beans are steaming, place 1 cup of ice cubes and cold water in a large bowl to create an ice bath to stop beans from overcooking and allow them to cool down. You will want the beans to still have a bit of a crunch, so be careful not to overcook them.

4. Once the beans are lightly steamed, place them in the ice bath and let cool.

5. In another large bowl, add the peas, snap peas and the sprouts.

6. Add the mint, parsley, garlic, shallots, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper in a high speed blender or food processor and blend until just combined. Slowly pour in the olive oil a little bit at a time and pulse in between each addition of oil until you have added the 1/2 cup.

7. Strain the beans and add to the rest of the ingredients.

8. Pour as much of the dressing over top of the green bean mixture as you desire and toss.

9. Top with additional chopped mint and parsley

10. Enjoy!