Salsa Bean Salad
A super easy bean salad with a piquant salsa flavour.
Salsa Bean Salad
This salad comes together really easily, although you want to allow time for it to marinate. Start with canned beans and a jar of salsa, then add whatever other ingredients you like. I have some suggestions below, but it’s really up to you. The key is to balance the texture and flavour of the beans with a combination of fat, salt, and acid. There are no quantities here–everything is to taste.
Servings: 2 servings, or more
Ingredients
- 1 can beans, whatever size or variety you prefer See Notes, below.
- your favourite salsa See Notes, below.
- lime wedges
- fresh cilantro, chopped
- avocado, chopped
- feta or cotija cheese, cubed
- tomatoes, chopped
- sweet peppers, chopped
- red onion, chopped
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the beans. Add as much salsa as you desire. The salsa will act as a marinade and dressing, so be sure you have enough. Stir well to make sure the salsa mixes with all the beans. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight to ensure the flavours get into the beans.
- Add fresh cilantro and avocado, feta, or both. (See Notes, below.)
- Add any other vegetables you like.
- Toss and add a squeeze of lime juice to finish. Serve alone or with a side of tortilla chips.
Notes
- If you don’t think you can eat all of the beans you’ve marinated, take only as many beans as you want. Add the other ingredients to the smaller serving and save the rest to make the salad again in the next day or two.
- I find black beans work really well here, but kidney beans would be fine, as would mixed beans. I think chickpeas would be my last choice, but if that’s all you have, give it a try!
- Prepared salsas run the gamut from saucy to chunky. Either works well here. If the salsa is chunky, the vegetables just become part of the salad. If it’s thinner, the salsa will be more like a dressing, and you may find you need to add a few chopped tomatoes or peppers to round out the flavours and textures in the salad.
- I recommend the feta or cotija because a salty element is really important. If you are vegan, try vegan cheese, or toss with some salted pumpkin seeds or some other salty ingredient. You can also serve with salted tortilla chips, as indicated.
Beans image by Tsipilevin | Dreamstime.com