White Bean Salad with Smoky Sunflower Dressing is fast and easy, make it anytime of year with pantry staples! Delicious, healthy, low-fat, gf, and oil-free.
As I type up the recipe for this white bean salad (which is deceptively delicious), I am fairly distracted.
See, I had intended to post this recipe several weeks ago.
However, as any mom with kids at home knows, summertime is not the most productive! 🙃
Plenty of changes to schedules, kids going here and there, oodles of interruptions. (One interruption included the need to post those zuke fritters! – but that was a good call!)
Plus, there are those times when – well – we just simply want to enjoy the bliss of summer!
So, I’m a little late to posting this white bean corn salad, and now trying to squeeze it in while…
getting our eldest ready to leave for uni! 😲😱
Yep, wee Charlotte from this photo is beginning her university years.
Isn’t that surreal? Ok, maybe not for you! Or, maybe it is. I know many of you have been with me since the beginning. Back in the days of TEV and Vive.
For you early fans of those “homestyle chocolate chip cookies” on the cover – yeah, time has flown!
Gosh, when I was writing TEV there were 2 vegan cookbooks on the market. 2!
Isn’t that something? I remember working on Vive and later ed&bv and LTEV, how ‘underground’ vegan was at the time.
In the very early days I was fringe. Not just fringe but extreme!
Yet, I always felt, in my core, that vegan would find its time. Knowing we might be 10, 15, or 20 years away. But we would get there.
And we have. Vegan has arrived!
And, I know we still have a long way to go before plant-based is mainstream. But times really are changing. Vegan is the future.
How did I go from a white bean salad to vegan is the future?
I guess I’m feeling a little sentimental, seeing my first weegan go off to uni.
Upside to her living in residence: her uni has a full vegan menu! There is a rotating menu, so she has plenty of variety and very well-rounded meals and snacks.
See? … Vegan is the future!
Let’s get back to that white bean salad, though!
In the summer I love to make hearty bean salads. It’s the warm-weather alternative to bean-y soups for me. There are so many combinations of beans, veggies, and seasonings.
Even going into the fall and winter I love bean-filled salads. Just when it’s cold I’ll default to soups and stews.
But this salad is one that can carry you through all the seasons, with common pantry ingredients.
The dressing is the white bean salad’s blessing!
Take the 5 minutes to pull the ingredients together for this smoky sunflower dressing. Quick blitz it in the blender and you’ll thank yourself!
This dressing is lightly creamy – thanks to the addition of sunflower seeds instead of nuts. It’s tangy-sweet and a little smoky. Altogether full of flavor, and no added oil.
The ingredients are fresh and nutrient-dense, with white beans, corn (I use frozen), fresh vegetables and herbs.
No big instructions other than that – this is a simple, quick recipe.
Enjoy the salad… and wish me luck. If you’re a mama that’s already done it, share your experience & wisdom. x Dreena
photos credit: Angela MacNeil
White Bean Corn Salad with Smoky Sunflower Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 cans 14/15oz white beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup corn kernels (can use frozen fresh, or canned
- 1 cup small cubed precooked red or yellow potatoes can substitute a cooked grain like brown rice or quinoa
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup julienned or other fine chop fresh spinach leaves
- 2 tbsp finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes optional
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro or fresh basil
Dressing:
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 2 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 1/2 tbsp raw sunflower seeds can substitute pumpkin seeds
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 dill seeds optional, don’t substitute dried dill weed
- 1/4 tsp or more if desired chipotle powder (or more to taste, can omit and use more smoked paprika)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add all salad ingredients. Stir to combine. Add ingredients for dressing to a blender. Puree until very smooth. Add dressing to salad and gently stir through. Taste, and add additional seasoning if desired. Serve.
diana says
I totally love this salad! It is easy to pull together and so tasty. The dressing is what really makes it–tangy, sweet, just tantalizing to my taste buds. I usually double the dressing and mix half of it in the salad itself. Since it’s only me, it takes me a few days finish the salad, so I usually add a bit more of my extra dressing for the third and fourth day I have it. Any dressing left over is wonderful on rice or vegetables. Thanks for a great recipe!
Dreena says
Thanks Diana! Delighted you are loving the recipe, thanks for sharing your feedback.
Lara says
This recipe is unusual and delicious! Thank you, Dreena!
Dreena says
Thank you Lara!
Marlene S. says
I just had this salad for lunch. YUM! As usual Dreena your recipes are the best. This one is a keeper!
SYLVIA ANCONA GONZALEZ says
Rica y nutritiva, Mil gracias.
Carolyn says
Made this yesterday morning and only made a half batch because it is just me and my husband and we had for dinner last night. We liked it so much that I just made another half batch to have today for lunch or dinner. I really liked that I was able to use ingredients that I already had on hand. The flavors are a combination of sweet from the corn and sun-dried tomatoes and spicy and even tangy from the lime juice. Very complex and yet just simple deliciousness! I found your website just recently but I will be returning again and again! Thank you!
Dreena says
I’m so happy to read this, thanks Carolyn! I appreciate the thoughtful feedback.
Shira Isenberg says
Looks delicious (like all your recipes) and I can’t wait to make this! Congrats on your oldest starting college. I’ve had all your cookbooks since they came out. I too recall how there were so few vegan cookbooks back in the day. I got in the habit of buying every single one. And now that habit is costing me a lot of money! I don’t buy them all anymore, but I do buy a crazy amount of cookbooks!
Laurie says
Just put this together with PURPLE potatoes given to me from the community garden where I live. Eye-poppng color especially when I poured on the paprika colored dressing. Terrific recipe and the dressing is a total winner. Thanks for sharing!
Dreena says
just fabulous! I can imagine how beautiful it looked with the purple spuds – thanks for the idea and feedback, Laurie.
katie marabello says
My husband can’t have mustard because of his Barrets Esophagus. Any ideas on a possible replacement? This recipe looks so good! Thank you.
Dreena says
For sure you can omit it, Katie – it’s a flavor component but just a small amount used here so for sure omit!
Pamela D Miller says
How many servings does this make?
Dreena says
I thought I had the servings in the recipe – I’ll check and edit.
Marie-Eve says
Hello Dreena,
I made your salad for lunches this week and was really impressed by the dressing! Not missing the oil at all! Boyfriend couldn’t even tell there was no oil 😉 Definitely adding this recipe to our “approved meal list” since it’s delicious and easy to make.
Thank you!
Marie-Eve
Dreena says
Just wonderful to hear, thanks Marie-Eve!
Ellen says
What blender did you use? I think the Blendtec twister jar might be too big and I wonder if my handheld blender would get it smooth enough. I can’t wait to try this recipe Thank you!
Olwyn says
Definitely adding this to my salad go to’s….just read yesterday that many people are potassium deficient and consequently suffer cramping and other serious side effects. So I looked up magnesium and potassium to learn the difference in their function. Good information at one’s finger tips! Beans, legumes, lentils, etc are a rich source of this nutrient. Like you, I like bean salads in summer and the soups in winter – soul satisfying! Thanks for these wonderful recipes – the zucchini fritters are great snacks in my lunch kit!
And the one leaving the nest, leaves a huge empty psychological and physical space behind….such excitement for her and such a tearing away for those left nesting…it closes in over time as life moves on but it is a huge shift for everyone involved…may it all go well…
Kristin Neubauer says
Good luck seeing your daughter off to school! I don’t have kids myself, but I remember how hard it was for my mom and dad to leave me at college….for a couple of days. It didn’t take them too long to adjust, and once they did, they were able to fully embrace the experience of being college parents – support my school, send me care packages, visit on parents weekend – and we all had lots of fun. It’s a rite of passage I guess….once you’re through the difficult part, I bet it will be awesome and your daughter and her friends will really appreciate the vegan care packages!
Susan K says
I can’t find the recipe!! I have looked at this post several times, clicked on the links, but no recipe… please help me!!!
Dreena says
Hi Susan, please check now, I had a tech problem but should be there now. Thx.
Leah says
Not sure if it’s just me, but I’m not seeing the actual recipe? Scrolled through three times thinking I’d missed it. I really want to try this salad, it sounds wonderful!
Dreena says
thank you Leah! Tech glitch. Now there 🙂