Bean Salad....in a hurry

I don't know about you, but most things I do are in a hurry.

Hurry, let's get this load of laundry in before I leave for work.
I need to hurry up and get dinner going.
I need to hurry up and get ready.
I don't have much time to get this run in, so let's hurry.

Hurry, hurry, hurry.  Such is life.

Sometimes good things come out of a hurry though.

Take this bean salad for instance.

I made it in a hurry and it was really good.

The best part is all of the ingredients can be changed or adjusted to your liking - you can include or exclude pretty much anything based on what you've got in your fridge and pantry.

Ingredients:
2 14.5oz cans of black beans, drained & rinsed (or about 3 cups of  black beans*)
1 14.5oz can of kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 sliced onion 
1/8 cup chopped cilantro
1tbsp crushed fresh ginger
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
Rice vinegar to taste
Salt & pepper to taste

*I have been buying beans in bulk from my local co-op.  I already had some made, so I used those instead of canned beans.

How to:
Drain & rinse the beans and throw them into the bowl you will be using to serve.
Slice the onion and add it to the beans.
Chop the cilantro and add it to the salad.
Peel the ginger and use your garlic press to crush it, add it to the salad.
Use your garlic press again to crush the garlic, add it to the salad.
Add grapeseed oil and stir everything together.
Add a few shakes of rice vinegar (mine has a funky top that makes it come out slow), taste and add more if you think it needs it.
Add salt & pepper to taste.
Enjoy.

The coolio part of this recipe is you can pretty much change up everything in it to suit what you have or what you like.  Here are some ideas:

Use different beans - chick peas (garbanzo), pinto, all black, all kidney, anything will do.
Add more, less or different vegetables - tomato, bell pepper, carrot, avocado....pretty much anything will work.
Use something different for your spice.  I like ginger and I had it and I put garlic in everything, but jalapeno would also work, or just cilantro by itself.
Change up the oil.  I didn't use olive oil because I thought the flavor would be too strong.  Just as a personal preference I typically use grapeseed instead of vegetable or corn, but any of those would work.
Use a different vinegar or no vinegar at all.  You could probably use white vinegar.  I used rice vinegar because it's a tad sweet.  But I think salsa would have worked well in it's place too.

You can also find this at Tasty Kitchen!

Have a nice day,
TCW

**I've shared this recipe at the following sites - follow the links for more great and tasty recipe ideas.





  








Print Friendly and PDF

8 comments:

  1. Sarah,

    This is a beautiful salad! I love the use of cilantro in there...and ginger. YUM! I've been eating a lot more salad now that it's getting a little warmer, craving them really. I'll be trying your awesome flavor combo.

    Thanks for sharing with us on AFW this week.

    Hugs,
    --Amber

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Amber. Sometimes the best things come out of using what you've got. :)

      Delete
  2. It looks delicious. You have reminded me I need to get some beans on to soak.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's funny Jennifer, I need to get some too! P.S. I've tried both soaking and just straight cooking without soaking. I found it works just as good to just cook the beans without soaking them. It takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours on a low-medium temp. Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  3. Oh my, that looks really good, hurry or not, that looks YUMMY :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sandra, if you try it let me know what you think!

      Delete
  4. Hello,
    I just love a great recipe like your Bean Salad when I am in a "Hurry". Hope you have a very special week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by Miz Helen, I hope you like the bean salad!

      Delete

I ♥ comments! Thanks for stopping by!

Pin It button on image hover