If you’re anything like me, you always have a bag or two (okay, maybe three) of dry beans in your pantry. Dry beans are, in my opinion, a vegan staple and people of all diets should always have them on hand.
My husband on the other hand, gets a little antsy about things being the pantry for “too long” so I decided to use them since corn on the cob is everywhere this time of year and I really felt like a black bean salad. But a problem I often have is incorrectly eye measuring stuff, yet I still find myself doing it. Regularly. So…black beans two ways.
Black bean salad is pretty easy to make, even easier when you don’t have to fret about which protein to put in it and whether or not to add cheese. At least I think so.
All you need is…fresh vegetables. I grilled two ears of corn on the stove top griddle and let them cool before cutting the kernels off. Then I chopped a red bell pepper, two scallions, some Romaine lettuce and cherry tomatoes, halved and quartered, then tossed them into a large mixing bowl. (Is eighth’ed a word?)
Now set aside the bowl because its time to make the lime mustard dressing!
This was pretty simple. All you need is: mustard (I used spicy and sweet), the juice and some zest of a lime, dill, salt, pepper, cumin and smoky paprika. Whisk it and pour it on top and lunch is served.
Don’t forget to add the avocado if you have an avocado lover in your house!
Make sure you toss it until everything is coated and be sure to taste it. Don’t be afraid to let it sit for about 10 minutes before adding more seasoning sometimes all a dish needs is time.
Add a Corona or Negro Modelo to the side and you’ve got a long lunch ahead of you!
The problem I had was that I only used 2 cups of cooked beans to make this salad and I had almost 4 cups remaining.
…then my mother in law found vegan gnocchi at the market and got it for us.
What to do with black beans and gnocchi?
Plenty, but what did I choose? Black bean curry with gnocchi.
I don’t know where it came from but that’s how we ended up here so let’s just go with it.
I’ll just get this out of the way now because some consider it controversial. I pan fried my gnocchi in olive oil and garlic. The end.
It’s crunchy and delicious and potato-y and I love it. Boil it if you want.
The curry was a simple one with onions, ginger, garlic, bell peppers and black beans with loads of spices.
I didn’t use coconut milk, instead I made a tomato, soy sauce, sriracha, ginger mix, added water and cornstarch to it and let it thicken that way, but coconut milk is also an option.
Top the gnocchi with the curry, be as generous or as stingy as you want with the liquid.
For the garnish, I thin sliced scallions and mint to cool the spice in the dish.
And that’s how you end up using a lot of beans and creating a new dish!
By the way, we ended up having one full serving of curry left over and we split it over a bed of jasmine rice so technically, vegan black beans…three ways?
the-spicy-spatula.com 
Great post 🙂
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