Gandules Salad

This recipe is based on my favorite appetizer from La Isla,, a Puerto Rican  restaurant in Ballard. This simple yet robust salad can be used as a side dish or a garnish. La Isla serves it as a garnish to plantain cups. I recently took it to a party and served it with tortilla chips as you would a salsa. I think it would be great as a side dish for pork or as a chilled summer salad.

The base of this is Gandules also known as Pigeon Peas. Gandules are a high protein legume and also contain many amino acids. You can usually find them in the Latin Foods section of your grocery store.

Ingredients

1 15oz can gandules, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 white onion, diced
juice from one lime
sea salt, chopped garlic, and fresh black pepper, to taste
white vinegar
olive oil

Combine all of the vegetables and lime juice into a bowl. Add about 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup white vinegar, mix well. Once well combined add your spices. You may want to play around with the vinegar and olive oil ratio to get it to a point that you like. I prefer a little more vinegar for a more tart taste. Starting with 1/4 cup of each though is a great start.

Chill until ready to serve

http://www.laislaseattle.com/menu.aspx