Asian Bean Salad

This Quick and Nutritious Asian Bean Salad is loaded with protein and bursting with flavor, leaving you satisfied and nourished. It's a balanced meal, packed with essential nutrients, to help meet your daily requirements. Perfect for meal prepping, this dish is your one-stop solution for a delicious and healthy week!

This is no ordinary bean salad! Created by a registered dietitian, it's designed to meet an abundance of nutritional needs in one bowl. Packed with plant-based protein, calcium-rich greens, or seaweed for an extra boost of iodine, plus wholesome noodles to balance your macronutrients, this quick and easy Asian-inspired dish will quickly become a household favorite!

This bean salad recipe was inspired by this Dense Bean Salad, as well as my Wakame Seaweed Salad recipe on this site.

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👩🏼‍🌾 Ingredients
🫘 Substitutions
📖 How to Make Asian Bean Salad
✔️ Expert Tips
🙋🏽‍♀️ Recipe FAQs
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Asian Bean Salad
💬 Comments

👩🏼‍🌾 Ingredients

Bean Salad:

Shaved carrots, shredded cabbage, edamame, green onion, adzuki beans, and noodles.

Edamame
Noodles
Carrots
Adzuki beans
Cabbage
Carrots
Green onion
Super firm or extra firm tofu (optional)
Greens-seaweed, spinach, or kale (optional)
Chopped peanuts (optional)

Asian Tahini Dressing:

Tahini, date syrup, tamari, lime, rice vinegar, ginger powder, and red chili pepper.

Tahini
Low-sodium tamari
Rice vinegar
Date syrup or maple syrup
Lime
Ginger powder
Red chili pepper (optional)

See the recipe card for quantities.

🫘 Substitutions

Noodles - use glass noodles (mung bean or sweet potato noodles), konjac, buckwheat, or whole grain vermicelli
Adzuki beans - substitute with black beans or more edamame
Tofu - add cubed extra firm or super firm tofu for more protein and texture
Greens - include baby spinach, kale, or seaweed for more nutrients
Ginger powder - substitute with fresh ginger instead

For more healthy bean dishes, visit my Vegan Bean Recipes page.

📖 How to Make Asian Bean Salad

The full recipe with quantities is at the bottom of the post. This is an overview.

Wakame seaweed, shaved carrots, shredded cabbage, and adzuki beans.

For the greens: Use chopped kale leaves, baby spinach, or dried wakame seaweed for more iodine.

If using wakame seaweed: Soak the dried seaweed in hot water for 5 to 7 minutes, or until just tender.

If using seaweed: Drain and rinse it well. Squeeze out the excess water and chop it into about 2-inch pieces. Set aside.

For the tofu: Press and drain the tofu, or use pre-pressed super firm tofu. Cut the block into small cubes.

Creamy Asian tahini dressing in a glass bowl with a whisk.

Make the dressing: In a medium bowl, mix the tahini, water, lime juice, tamari, vinegar, ginger, chili pepper (if using), and date syrup. Add more water as needed until the desired consistency.

Edamame, adzuki beans, greens, tofu, green onion, cabbage, carrot, noodles, and red chili pepper with a creamy dressing in a white bowl.

Combine: Transfer the cabbage, carrots, edamame, adzuki beans, tofu, noodles, and seaweed to a large bowl. Add the dressing to the salad and toss gently to incorporate. Top with chopped peanuts, if using.

✔️ Expert Tips

Do not overcook the noodles. They should be al dente.
Use kitchen shears to cut the cooked noodles into bite-size pieces.
If using seaweed, use about ¼ cup dried wakame. It expands significantly when you add water.
Storage: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Store the dressing separately in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

🙋🏽‍♀️ Recipe FAQs

What is iodine good for?

Iodine is critical for producing thyroid hormones, which regulate our metabolism and energy. Without enough iodine, we risk hypothyroidism, which can lead to issues like fatigue and weight gain. Sea vegetables, such as seaweed, are great sources of iodine, which is why I incorporate them into my diet, especially on a plant-based diet.
When it comes to cruciferous veggies like kale and broccoli, there are concerns about goitrogens, which can interfere with iodine uptake. However, cooking these vegetables significantly reduces their goitrogen content, and moderate amounts of raw cruciferous vegetables are generally safe if you're getting enough iodine. So, I make sure to include iodine-rich foods like seaweed to balance things out, ensuring I get all the health benefits of cruciferous veggies without compromising my thyroid function.

What types of seaweed are safe to eat?

While seaweed can be an excellent source of iodine, not all types are equally safe to consume regularly due to variations in iodine content and potential contaminants.
Nori: This type of seaweed, commonly used in sushi, is considered safe. It contains a moderate amount of iodine and doesn't have the high levels of contaminants found in some other seaweeds. Nori is an excellent choice for regular consumption.
Wakame: Wakame is generally safe. It has a moderate iodine content and provides other beneficial nutrients without the risk of excessive iodine intake or heavy metal contamination.
Kombu/Kelp: Be cautious with kombu and kelp due to their extremely high iodine content. Regular consumption can lead to excessive iodine intake, which may negatively affect thyroid function. Kelp is also more likely to contain heavy metals such as arsenic, so it's better to limit its use.
Hijiki: I advise against consuming hijiki due to its high levels of inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen. This type of seaweed should be avoided to prevent potential health risks.

What are the health benefits of edamame?

Edamame are young soybeans still in their pods. For this recipe, I use frozen shelled edamame to save time. Like other soy foods, including tempeh, tofu, soymilk, and miso, edamame beans are high in fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium, plant-based protein, and zinc.
Soy appears to lower breast cancer risk, from its anti-estrogenic effect, but can also help reduce menopausal hot-flash symptoms, a pro-estrogenic effect. Moreover, soy protein does not seem to exert extra stress on the kidneys, unlike meat protein.