Black Bean Salad with Creamy Avocado Cilantro Dressing
This is one of the most delicious and nutritious salad that I have prepared. Black bean salad with creamy avocado cilantro dressing. Growing up kidney beans were my favorite beans but now I prefer chickpeas and black beans.I find them to be more versatile to use in creating new recipes, like my General Tso’s chickpeas and my vegan black bean burritos.. Another thing that I love to do is, to include lots of different vegetables with different colors in my salads. We eat with out eyes, so I do my best to make dishes that are very pleasing to the eyes and also very flavorful. This salad is no exception, I include a base of chopped Romaine lettuce (my favorite), chopped red and yellow bell peppers, black bean, organic corn, avocado, spring onions.
This salad is hearty and it really doesn’t require lots of prep time except for cooking the black beans or you can just use canned beans instead. You can also use canned, fresh or frozen corn (I like to cook my frozen corn for about one minute in boiling water). The dressing is creamy and delicious with a blend of almond milk, avocado, cilantro, cumin and garlic. This salad is delicious on its own for a light meal, served as a side or like how I had it as the filling for a veggie wrap using brown rice tortilla.
Ingredients:
Salad:
- 1 head Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
- 1 1/2Â cups cooked or 1-15 ounce can black beans drained
- 1 cup organic whole corn kernel
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
- 1/4Â cup red bell pepper, chopped
- 1/4Â cup yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped
- 1 spring onion, chopped (white and green parts)
Creamy Avocado Cilantro Dressing:
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4Â teaspoon sea salt or more to taste
- 1/4Â teaspoon cumin (optional)
Directions:
For the Dressing:Â Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth, scraping down the sides. Keep leftovers refrigerated for about 3 days.
For the salad:Â Toss lettuce, black bean, corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, avocado, spring onion in a large bowl, drizzle with dressing and serve.
I have tried so many versions of this recipe, but have never quite liked them enough to consider this salad a “go to” meal. I thought I would give it one more try and I’m so glad I did! Your version of this salad is the hands-down winner. The salad dressing is awesome! I love how everything in this salad can be prepared ahead of time (except for the sliced avocado) and put in the fridge to chill. Being able to put dinner on the table in literally 5 minutes is a life safer. I also love how each of the ingredients can easily be incorporated into other meals or salads later in the week. I grilled some pineapple spears to serve for dessert and it was the perfect finishing touch!
Thank you T, I’m so happy you like it and that it saves you time when prepared ahead!
Thank you for this yummy recipe. I am not a fan of the almond milk in this dressing, even though I love almond milk. Next time I would try using olive oil, avocado oil and/or water instead.
Thanks for trying, I will go back and edit to make sure its unsweetened almond milk. Definitely not original or vanilla flavored milk.
I made this salad last week. Simply delicious! Very east to prepare…Family enjoyed it!
Just know I will love this salad. I would prefer not to use the almond milk in the dressing. Can you suggest something else in place of the milk? Thank you :~)
Thanks Liz, substitute with your favorite non-dairy milk and you should be okay. I only made it with almond milk, but would love to try another milk sometime!
Awesome, I hope you enjoy!
I made the dressing today and just came back from the grocery store with the rest of the ingredients. I cannot wait to make this salad tonight. My daughter and I will have it for lunch tomorrow.
This looks so good and is totally my kind of food! Definitely going to make this!!