A group of us get together for a potluck and movie night every month or so, and we've exchanged some good recipes. My niece is really getting into the super-healthy diet and has brought some very good dishes. This was an unusual vegan salad with sprouted beans, so it had the crunchiness of a whole-grain salad but was low-carb. It's served room temp and travels well. She tripled the recipe which gave us leftovers; it would have been enough for 7-8 people as a substantial side dish in place of starch.

I had brought a spicy peanut sauce (my version of the bottled Thai peanut sauce used for satay) for some chicken kebabs, and we all agreed the peanut sauce went better with the salad than the original recipe suggestion of grated Parmesan. Anyway, if you're looking for something unusual or trying to feed someone with a restricted diet, the sprouted beans are also low-glycemic, I believe.

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Sprouted Bean Salad

1 cup truRoots Organic Sprouted Bean Trio*

1/3 cup diced cucumber (peel it if it has a tough skin)

1 small tomato, diced

2 T fresh chopped parsley (more or less to taste)

2 T thinly sliced garlic chives (green onions will probably work but use less as they tend to be rather strong)

4 T extra virgin olive oil

2 T fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp smoked paprika (sweet or hot, your choice)

1/4 tsp garlic powder (more or less to taste) generous pinch of kosher salt (use less if using table salt) Parmesan cheese to taste

Put the 1 cup of sprouted beans in a pot with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit, undrained and covered, for 10 minutes. Test to see if the beans are tender enough, and if they are, drain them.

Mix the drained beans with the cucumber, tomato, chives and parsley in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate small bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, paprika, garlic and salt and whisk until emulsified. Pour half of the dressing over beans and toss gently to combine. Keep adding dressing in small increments until it starts to pool a bit at the bottom of the bowl. Let sit a few minutes to absorb the dressing. If you like, you can add the Parmesan cheese now and toss it gently, or you can leave it out and let people add it to their taste later on. Put salad in a serving dish and it is ready to eat.

*The beans used are the Sprouted Bean Trio from TruRoots which Costco was offering on a new product trial. They're probably also available at Whole Foods or any Natural Foods grocery store (see link below to TruRoots website).

Spicy Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 Tblspn Chinese garlic-chili sauce

1 Tblspn lime juice

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons neutral honey

1/2 cup water

Put all ingredients in a microwavable 2-cup bowl (a 2-cup Pyrex measure works perfectly). Microwave for approximately 60 seconds.

Stir with a spoon until blended. Serve with chicken kebabs or beef satay.

Here is a link that might be useful: TruRoots sprouted beans package