Black Bean Salad

As I have been posting recipes to this blog I have noticed that we really like black beans and avocados.  Already I have a few recipes with featuring these two ingredients in different configurations and there's probably more to come.  Black beans and avocados are both tasty and nutritious.  Plus beans are a cheap source of protein, so we'll probably keep finding different ways to eat this delicious combination.

Black bean salad is the latest of these recipes.  It's really easy to put this in a crockpot and let it simmer away while you work on your other freezer meals.  It's nice to have a low maintenance dish in the rotation as making freezer meals can be a big process.


From: An American Place
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Simple Side
Recipe Column: AG

Serves 4

1 cup dry black bean, rinsed and soaked in salt water
1 bay leaf
10 black peppercorns
2 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
1 clove minced garlic
1 jalepeno, seeded and minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chile powder
Tabasco sauce, to taste
salt, to taste

1. Drain and rinse the beans.  Wrap the peppercorns and bay leaf in a small square of cheesecloth and tie the bundle closed with twine, leaving a long tail of twine
2. Place the beans, stock or water, garlic and the cheesecloth bundle in a crockpot.  Drape the twine tail over the edge of the crockpot so you can use it for easy removal. 
3. Cook the beans in the crockpot until tender.  You can use low, medium or high heat with your crockpot depending on how quickly you want them to cook.  The length of cooking time will depend on your crockpot and the temperature you choose.
4. Drain the beans and discard the cheesecloth bundle.
5. Put the beans in bowl.  Add the jalepeno, olive oil, lime juice, cumin, chile powder, Tabasco and salt.

To freeze:

Divide the beans into the desired number of bags or containers and freeze.

To serve:

Thaw the beans in the refrigerator overnight.  The beans are served cold, but I like to microwave them 30 to 60 seconds to take the chill off so they're not just-thawed cold.  Serve with 1 to 2 diced avocados and a handful or two of halved cherry tomatoes.  Half a red onion, diced, or a couple tablespoons of chopped cilantro are also tasty additions.  Serve on a bed of crisp lettuce like romaine or butterhead.  We also have corn on the cob with this, but it is filling and tasty enough to stand on its own too.