Black Bean Salad
First a little blast of color from local edible flowers.
These are a pile of late summer flowers grown by my friends at Canoe Creek Produce that I used as garnish on salads and an appetizer for a wedding a couple of weeks ago. I see runner bean flowers, calendula petals, bachelor buttons, snapdragons, and I’m not sure what else. They were so stunning I had to share them with you.
And even more stunning color brought to you by the peppers from the Farmer’s Market, before being mixed into the salad for a wedding.
You really don’t need to do much to a salad when produce is so beautiful and flavorful in these last few weeks of summer. I used to make versions of this salad for catering and the deli, rotating the combination of vegetables depending on what was available or particularly good.
The beans are better if they can marinate for at least 30 minutes, or even up to a couple of days. They soak in the salt and seasonings and then become little flavor bursts in the salad. You can cook and freeze the beans in small amounts for quick and easy salads that require no cooking on hot days. Sometimes I even freeze them after marinating.
Fall is nearly here, and though it’s my favorite season I will miss the early sunlight that coaxes me out of bed. So get out there and enjoy this diminishing daylight while you can!
Black Bean Salad
Prep Time: 20 minutes plus 30 minutes to marinate
Cook Time: 2 hours for beans
Marinate the beans with the seasonings in a bowl for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days:
1 3/4 cups Black Beans, cooked and drained
2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon Tamari
1 1/2 teaspoons Cumin, ground
1 1/2 teaspoons Coriander, ground
3/4 teaspoon Sea Salt (may vary if beans were salted)
1 clove Garlic, minced
Before serving mix in…and don’t worry too much about the exact measurements of these vegetables:
1/2 cup Cucumbers and/or Tomatoes, cubed
1/2 cup Peppers, diced
1/2 cup Corn, cooked and sliced off the cob, or frozen
1/4 cup Onion, minced or Green Onion, chopped
1/3-1/2 cup Cilantro, chopped
Taste and adjust.
