Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Black Bean and Quinoa Salad

In the December Food and Wine, there was a story about Boston chef Ken Oringer and the tailgate party he hosts on the day he cuts down his Christmas tree. The picnic menu for this party was a really good one, and I have to keep the pages I cut from the magazine because I’d like to recreate the entire thing some day. It included cubano sandwiches, this black bean and quinoa salad, mulled cider, an avocado, grapefruit, and hearts of palm salad, artichoke and spinach dip with spiced pita chips, and caramel pecan bars. Reading that list again just now made me a little hungry. Last week, I wasn’t ready to throw a picnic party and prepare all of that, but I had a plan for jibaritos and thought this salad would fit well with them. As usual, when I cook dried beans, I cook a lot of them at once. I planned ahead, cooked a lot of beans, set aside the amount needed for this recipe, and stored the extra beans in the freezer for future uses. With the black beans already cooked, prepping the salad was quick and easy.

First, the quinoa was cooked and then spread on a sheet pan to cool quickly. A dressing was made by whisking together sherry vinegar, soy sauce, lime juice, and a chopped chipotle chile, and then olive oil was incorporated. Sliced scallions, minced red onion, finely diced yellow pepper, and chopped cilantro were combined with the cooked and cooled black beans and quinoa. The dressing was poured over the mixture, it was tossed to combine, seasoning was checked, and that was it.

The salad is so full of flavor and varied textures you won’t even pause to think about how healthy it is. The chipotle added a little spiciness, and you could increase that and taste as you go while making the dressing. Obviously, you could change the vegetables in the salad, but the ones suggested were a nice mix of colors with the yellow pepper against the black beans and flecks of green cilantro and scallions here and there. This makes a very large quantity of salad, but it stores well in the refrigerator. It’s also great on a bed of arugula and topped with some crumbled feta, so I didn’t mind having a big bowl of it in the refrigerator for a few days.





31 comments:

  1. Hey Lisa! This salad looks delicious. I love quinoa. I'm marking this one!

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  2. Healthy and tasty! A delicious salad!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  3. So healthy and looks absolutely delicious! Black beans rock!

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  4. I l ove quinoa and all its versatility but confess to being in a rut with it using a favorite recipe. This may be just the sort of jump start I need.

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  5. lovely salad. I need to get me a supply of quinoa stat!!! I feel like I'm the only one who hasn't tried it yet.

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  6. Good thinking about freezing the beans. I make a big pot, too, but usually just end up eating it slowly through the week. I like the idea of having some tucked away for a rainy day, so to speak. ;)

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  7. Oh wow, what a great, healthy recipe! I already bookmarked it. :)

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  8. I have yet to try quinoa. It always looks too healthy to be tasty ;), but i'm sure with your fabulous cooking skills, this tastes great.
    *kisses* HH

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  9. The color of this salad is just gorgeous!

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  10. That's such a beautiful, healthy dish. Love it.

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  11. this sounds marvelous! black bean dishes are such a draw for me, and the quinoa makes this even more nutritious and full of texture. beautiful work, lisa!

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  12. I've made a salad like this before and really loved it! Black beans are always yummy. Ken's menu sounds fantastic! I can see why you want to make the whole thing.

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  13. This is beautiful! The black beans and yellow peppers give it such a nice colour.

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  14. I love these kinds of salads. Hearty and healthy! Looks delicious.

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  15. Beautiful salad! A nice bowl of this would be a complete meal for me. Now, I just need to get in the habit of preparing my beans from dry - I'm still hooked on the convenience of canned. Do you use a pressure cooker or just a standard pot?

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  16. Tracy: I just simmer the beans in a standard stock pot. I've always wondered how great a pressure cooker would be though.

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  17. This looks great Lisa! I've been trying to find some delicious looking quinoa recipes! :D

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  18. That is a fantastic combination. I'm always looking for good salads that feed a lot of people for the quarterly yoga retreats. I made a quinoa salad last summer and people went crazy over it.

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  19. I wouldn't mind this in my fridge at all! It looks wonderful with the chipotle spicing it up.

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  20. A terrific healthy salad, I like the colorful addition of yellow peppers!

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  21. Ah, this looks lovely! I wonder if I can cook this in a slow-cooker...maybe not because of the quinoa?

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  22. This looks beautiful,not to mention how healthy this dish is.

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  23. Such a good nutritious and balanced dish. Black beans ranks high in the Whole Foods ANDI index.

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  24. Looks amazing! There's a quinoa salad at one of my standard lunch places. It's a favorite. I really want to try this one (please Bill!).

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  25. What an easy and fresh salad - it looks lovely!

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  26. This is the exact kind of salad that I have been looking for a recipe for!

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  27. I love quinoa, and have not made it in a while...maybe that will be my rainmageddon meal tonight!

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  28. I make a similar salad all the time, with lots of diced avocado on top. It's a great quick meal during the week.

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  29. I love this salad and haven't made it in a long time. Lovely! I'm so going out tomorrow to buy some Quinoa.

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  30. Gorgeous salad! I have never made salads with beans in them for whatever reason but this looks delicious

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  31. Sounds like a perfect lunch menu for me which i could eat everyday! Love quinoa and I do make a lot of it with beans. love the colors here.

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