WED LUNCH · FROM THE VIDEO
Dense Bean Salad Remix with Feta and Greens
- 20 min
- 8 min with Sunday prep
- 1–4 servings
- 380 kcal
- 24g protein
This dense bean salad is the workhorse of the week: chickpeas and white beans marinate in lemon and olive oil until they're bright and tangy, then get piled over crisp greens with extra feta for good measure. It actually improves after a day or two in the fridge, so it's built for a Wednesday lunch that tastes fresher than it should.
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Ingredients
- 3/4 cupcanned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 3/4 cupcanned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cupEnglish cucumber, diced
- 2 tbspred onion, finely diced
- 1/4 cupcrumbled feta cheese
- 1/2 lemonlemon, juiced
- 2 cupsmixed salad greens
From the pantry: olive oil, salt, black pepper
Cookware
cutting board · chef's knife · mixing bowl · can opener · measuring cups · measuring spoons · meal-prep container
Directions
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas and cannellini beans, then pat them dry with a towel.
- Dice the cucumber and red onion small so every bite gets a little of each.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the beans, cucumber, and red onion.
- Whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of pepper, then pour over the bean mixture and toss to coat.
- Fold in the crumbled feta, saving a small pinch to sprinkle on top later.
- Let the salad sit at least 15 minutes (or make it Sunday and let it marinate until Wednesday for the best flavor).
- Add the mixed greens to the bottom of a meal-prep container, then spoon the bean salad on top and finish with the reserved feta.
- Seal the container and refrigerate; eat cold, straight from the fridge, no reheating needed.
Two tips
- If you did the Sunday bean salad prep, just skip to step 7 and layer straight from that container onto fresh greens.
- Swap the cannellini beans for black beans (already on the grocery list) if you want a slightly different texture without buying anything extra.
Packing
Keep the greens on the bottom and add the bean salad on top just before sealing so nothing gets crushed; this salad is meant to be eaten cold, and the beans actually taste better after a day or two of marinating, so it holds up well through Wednesday without going soggy.
Storage
Keeps well in the fridge for up to 5 days in a sealed container; the bean mixture alone (without greens) can also be frozen for up to 2 months, though fresh cucumber and feta are best added after thawing.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 380 kcal
- Protein
- 24 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fiber
- 11 g
- Sodium
- 620 mg
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Recipe developed by MealPot for the “Everything I packed for work lunches last week” video. Nutrition is estimated from standard (USDA) data for the quantities above. Photo: MealPot, an AI-rendered illustration of the packed lunch.