Yield: 8 servings (easily halved)

With summer almost here, my thoughts have turned to refreshing, but hearty salads (though I’m also pretty likely to crave cold weather foods in July). It occurred to me that all of the ingredients for a vegan chili would make a delicious salad: hence the reference to “deconstruction.”

The salad’s key ingredients are red kidney beans, tomatoes, bell pepper and red onion. The dressing includes a spice mixture similar to what I use in chili. If you use yellow bell pepper and dried instead of fresh oregano, you may want to add a tablespoon of minced fresh parsley or cilantro for some flecks of green throughout the salad. For the acid in the dressing, I chose red wine and lime juice, as I like a little red wine in my chili and I like to serve bowls of chili with wedges of lime. Because I chose to omit faux ground beef, which is ever-so-slightly sweet, I decided to add just a hint of sweetness to the dressing in the form of maple or brown rice syrup. Finally, one of my favorite vegan chili recipes calls for sunflower seeds so, here, I include them as a garnish.

Salad:
2-15 ounce cans Bush’s red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups grape tomatoes, sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup finely diced green or yellow bell pepper
1 ½ cups finely diced red onion
pinch of salt
pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Dressing:
1 teaspoon chili powder (I like Ancho chili powder)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt
scant 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
scant 1/8 teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon fresh minced oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons red wine
1 teaspoon maple or brown rice syrup
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, if needed

Optional garnish: a couple of tablespoons of roasted, salted sunflower seeds

Gently toss together salad ingredients in a medium non-reactive bowl and set aside. Combine all dry dressing ingredients in a small non-reactive cup or bowl. Whisk in wet ingredients. Drizzle over salad and gently toss one more time, adjusting seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds if desired just before serving.