Black bean salad

Contributed by Preston Maring, MD


Black bean salad

Black beans are becoming a staple at my house. We cook them in a pressure cooker. We cook them the regular way after soaking. And we buy them in BPA-free cans.  

Depends on the day and time. With fresh corn, cherry tomatoes, peppers, and other goodies at the farmers' market, you can pick everything up you need for this salad except for limes and the beans. 

This salad is similar to some others I have posted in the past except for the black beans and, importantly, the chili-lime vinaigrette. 

A half-cup of black beans has 60 mg of calcium and lots of fiber, plus they taste good. 

I found this recipe online on a Food Network site and modified it a bit. The actual amounts and proportions of the veggies don't matter. It's all good.

Servings: 6

Ingredients

  • 1 clove of garlic, minced, then mashed with some kosher salt
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 ears of fresh corn kernels (cut them off in a bowl so they don't scatter all over your kitchen)
  • 1 orange bell pepper, diced (could be red or purple)
  • 1/2 small red onion, chopped
  • 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed or 1 1/2 cups beans you cooked
  • 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 Haas avocado, diced
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (I usually use more — some are finicky about cilantro)
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • Lettuce leaves to cover six salad plates

Directions

  1. Add the lime juice to the mashed garlic. Add chili powder and cumin.
  2. Everyone says to drizzle in the olive oil while whisking. I just dump it into the jar with the other stuff and shake it. 
  3. Mix all the other ingredients down to the lettuce and toss with the vinaigrette. 
  4. Season to taste. 
  5. Mound on a bed of lettuce leaves.

Nutrition information (per serving)

  • Calories: 210
  • Total fat: 15 g
  • Saturated fat: 2 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg
  • Sodium: 540 mg
  • Total carbohydrate: 22 g
  • Dietary fiber: 7 g
  • Total sugars: 4 g
  • Protein: 5 g