
Recipes for Black Beans – Mexican Avacado Salad
For some reason I only discovered the beauty of black beans in the last year or so. I don’t know why I’d never had them before, but now that I know what a nutritional powerhouse they are I incorporate them into my meals as often as possible! Now I find myself constantly searching for recipes for black beans and looking for ways to add them to my favorite foods.
Canned beans are fine, but you can soak dry beans overnight and cook them as well.
Preparing Black Beans
Overnight Method
Sort through the dry beans to remove any debris or odd beans. Rinse and drain.
Put the beans in a large bowl (at least twice twice the size of the beans as they expand). Cover the beans with at least 3″ of water and let them soak overnight then cook them as directed below.
Quick Method
Sort and rinse the black beans and place them in a large pot with at least 3″ of water. Put the pot on the stove on high. Bring it to a boil and then immediately reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Do not cover the beans – you want the steam to be released. Turn off the heat and leave the beans undisturbed in the pot for about 60 minutes.
Cooking
The next day or once the 60 minutes is up for the quick method, drain and rinse and refill the pot with clean water – cover the beans with at least 2″ of water. On high heat, bring the beans to a boil and then lower the heat to medium to keep the beans almost at the boiling stage, but not actively boiling. Keep it there for up to two hours or until the beans are tender. How long the beans take depends on how old they are and the amount of humidity in your air. Testing them is the only way to be sure they’re done (pull out a few, run them under cool water, then taste them. They should be tender.
Drain the beans (rinse if the recipe calls for it) and then use them in your recipe
- 2 cups canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 avocados, diced
- 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
- 1 bunch of scallions, chopped
- 2 Tbls chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 medium red onion, diced
- 5 oz prepared Italian salad dressing
- Tortilla chips
- In a large bowl, place black beans, avocados, tomatoes, scallions, cilantro, red onion and toss with Italian dressing.
- Serve with Tortilla chips on the side.
More Recipes for Black Beans
- Cinco De Mayo Recipe, Printables and More
- Chicken Recipe: Black Bean and Rice Casserole
- Vegetarian Recipes: Quick and Easy Taco Salad Recipe
- Healthier Options Vegetarian Appetizer Recipes
- Recipe: Quick and Easy Mild Pork Carnitas Tacos
- Avocado and Black Bean Salad
- Black Bean Burgers
- Gluten-Free Black Bean Mocha Brownies – 2 Weight Watchers Points
- Recipes: Meatless Vegetarian Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili Recipe
Photo Credit: Bill Milne Photography
Recipe provided by Maria Zoitas, creator of the“Maria’s Homemade” line of prepared food which is sold exclusively at Westside Market NYC
Oh yummy! I love black beans and avocados. I really want to make this! Looks like it will be a great summer, side dish! I will have to restock on my black beans though. =/
Pinning and sharing!
I tried the recipe – VERY good! This is the time of year for salads, all right, and I love black beans. I had all the ingredients already. The only change I made was leaving out the cilantro, as I can’t stand it, for some reason. But the salad turned out great, the family loved it – thanks! (BTW, I used a very ZESTY dressing!)
I like just a little cilantro – it can definitely overpower a salad! I’m glad you liked it!
I’m going to try this over this Memorial weekend with grilled chicken. Since I go to weight
watchers, I will change up the Italian dressing with a fat free variety and maybe add some jicama for crunch. This is low in calories and very WW friendly for sure!
Thanks so much!
I never think to buy jicama but I do love it – great change up!
This sounds delicious and refreshing. I made something similar without dressing a few days ago. I didn’t put green onion in it but that would have been good. I used lime juice it was so delicious.
I too am not big on black beans and I don’t know why. I will eat them when we go out or somewhere other than home. I like them, I just don’t ever pick them up in the market. I do love Mexican food and salads, so I think this would be a great make ahead (for the most part) type of recipe for the summer! thanks!
Get out there and buy them! 🙂