Black Bean Salad

I went out to the local Mexican restaurant last night and had some of their delicious beans and rice. It reminded me of how much I enjoy a good black bean! I feel incredibly virtuous when I eat beans. They're low in fat, rich in protein, full of complex carbohydrates, and there's lots of lovely fiber! Anything with that much natural color in it has got to be good for you! They're the perfect little package of goodness!

I decided to whip up a little black bean salad to go with our carnitas tonight! 

We want to make up a little dressing for our salad first.

I decided a little heat was in order. I had no fresh chilies around so I relied on the good old standard red pepper flakes. Just a little to wake up the taste buds.

You've gotta have a little acid in a dressing. I am staying authentic to Latin cuisine and using a lime.

I squoze the heck out of 1/4 of a lime. Squoze is a fancy technical cooking term I use often . . .

Garlic? Yes, thank you, I will!

You want it minced really finely. Use a press or mince it up with a knife. You could even grate it on a Microplane!

Now for a little salt. Just a generous sprinkling on over the garlic. You can always add a little more later.

Now I take a fork and stir it all up together. If you minced your garlic with a knife the salt will actually help smoosh it a little. Smooshing garlic in salt and acid amplifies it's flavor! Who doesn't want their garlic amplified? (Smoosh is another one of my cooking terms, I hope you're not turned off by all these technical words . . .)

Now for a little olive oil. Use the extra virgin if you've got it! Its fruitiness can actually come through in a nice cold salad like this. 

I want to pump up the Latin flavor so a little cumin is in order. I'm going to use the ground today.

Oh it smells so good! Sort of like a good pot of chili!

A little ground up coriander seed!

Coriander seed is what grows into cilantro! It's flavor is sort of citrusy. All I know is that if you put it in meat it tastes good! Yummy! I got mine at the Indian food store. Indian cuisine uses a lot of the same spices as Latin ones! So if you're ready to cook up some Mexican food you could also whip up an Indian dish too.

Dump it in and mix it all up! Your dressing is DONE. Well, except, you could stick your finger in it and see if it's salty enough for you. My canned beans already have some salt in them so I'm holding back a little.

Now for some beans. I like to use canned beans for salads. They are tender but retain their shape. Shape is important in a salad. We're not serving refried beans here!

Rinse them off. I'm using two cans of beans today because I want leftovers for lunch. Bean salad is the lunch of champions!

After the beans are drained and rinsed you put them in the bowl with the dressing.

Now a good salad has all the flavors in it. We've got sour from the lime juice, bitter from the garlic and spices, umami from the beans. We added some preliminary salt to the dressing and it's part of the beans processing. What are we missing? A touch of sweetness!

This beautiful red pepper will provide color and sweetness! How about some non-traditional sweetness?

A little Spanish onion has sweetness to me! Sweet and heat at the same time. A sweet Vidalia onion would be a lovely addition here too.

Now for a little chopped cilantro to round things out! I like it's color and it's herbaceous aroma!

Add all the happy players to the bowl and stir them up! You want to get the dressing all over everything.

Now that's a party in a bowl! Give it a taste and add more salt or lime juice as necessary. You can throw it on the table right now or put it in the refrigerator and let the flavors mingle. When I refrigerate it I taste it every 30 minutes or so just to check on it. You know . . . to make sure it's still delicious . . . maybe I should of made three cans?

Oh Black Bean Salad! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

Your beans are soft and creamy!
Your dressing is silky and flavorful!
Your lime is sour and refreshing!
Your vegetables are crisp and sweet!

It's a side dish! It's a lunch! It's a salsa for chips!  It's multifunctional! Whatever you do, make this for people you love! It's good for them.

Black Bean Salad

For the dressing
juice from 1/4 of a lime
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the salad
2 cans black beans
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/3 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Stir together the dressing ingredients in the bottom of the serving bowl. Add salad component and toss gently until well mixed. Chill until serving time.