As more and more people become aware of black beans, the interest in it has also become heightened. Originating from Mexico and very much a part of the South American diet, black beans have been proven to be quite a nutritionally packed food group indeed. Today it is popularly found in most restaurants and homes in various forms such as salads, staples and other delicious dishes.
Black beans consist of high protein and fibre and are considered very nourishing. Fibre and protein are considered very important to the wholesome function of a healthy body. They also contain flavonoids and anti oxidants, which assist the body avoid oxygen related damage. Black beans also contain omega 3 fatty acids, which add to their high nutritional value.
Black beans are also very easy to incorporate into most meals, as it has a basic flavour of rich smokiness, which gives added character to any dish. The velvety texture, shape and colour hold well during cooking and make for a very interesting looking ingredient.
Black Bean Salad
Ingredients
2 lbs. black beans (cook yourself from raw or use canned)
2 lbs. cooked sweet corn, cut from the cob/canned/frozen
8 green onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, large, minced
2-3 Jalapeño peppers, cleaned, diced (more if you like)
1 green Bell pepper, cleaned, diced (I also sometimes add a small sweet red pepper, for both sweetness & colour)
1 ripe avocado, large, pitted, peeled and diced
1 jar (4 oz) pimentos, drained
3 tomatoes, seeded & diced
1C fresh cilantro, chopped
Sea salt & fresh cracked black pepper to taste.
The Dressing
3 T fresh lime juice
2 T fresh orange juice
2-1/2 tsp lime zest
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Sea salt & fresh cracked black pepper to taste
Directions
Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Season with the salt & pepper. Whisk the dressing vigorously to incorporate. Add the dressing to the salad and gently toss to combine everything. Chill until ready to serve. Lightly toss again prior to serving.
Prepare this salad at least 4 hours prior to serving to let everything – except the avocado – marry joyfully in the bowl.
You do want to let the avocado bathe in the lime juice of the dressing – better presentation that way, and you can store the avocado pieces in a small container. Then, pour the dressing off the avocado and mix the salad with the dressing, then dress the top of the salad with the avocado pieces at service.
You want this salad well chilled, but if you don’t bathe the avocados in the dressing first, they will end up looking like grey lumps of pork as the air hits them.
Photo by Mikey Frost on Unsplash
