This Kale and Black Bean Salad with Avocado Lime Dressing is the first of my non-baking posts. I’m going to be doing these at least once a month to encourage myself to cook more and also share some of the yummy non-baked things I make! I’d like to apologise in advance for the terrible photos these posts will have, while I have been improving my baking photography it seems I have a lot further to go with general food photography!
This salad is a favourite for me and the best friend, it’s simple to make, super tasty and healthy too! What’s not to love. You can mix it up with your favourite veggies to customise it your personal tastes.
The dressing is nice and creamy, which is great for raw kale as it helps break it down – raw kale is a favourite of mine but it can be pretty tough, I normally toss it in lime juice which makes it extra tasty and helps break it down. This dressing has the benefits of the lime juice and the thickness to make the kale more palatable as a salad.
One thing you should know about me is if I can add black beans to something, I will add black beans! They’re one of my favourite foods and I put them in absolutely everything I possibly can, this salad is no exception. I usually fry them with some onion to help soften them up before adding them to the salad.
- 1 can of black beans, drained and quickly rinsed
- 1 large red onion
- 1 bunch of kale, torn up
- 1 carrot, grated
- Half a cucumber, sliced
- 1 can of sweet corn, drained
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1/4 lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 1/2 cup coriander (cilantro)
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 small jalapeno, seeds removed (unless you want it spicy)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 buttermilk
- 2 tbsp low fat milk
- Chop up the red onion. Heat some oil in a pan and fry half the onion until soft, add the black beans and heat for another 5 minutes until soft. Set aside
- Add the rest of the salad ingredients into a large bowl (including the remaining half of the red onion).
- Add the black bean mix and toss to combine all.
- In a food processor, blend the garlic, lime juice, coriander, avocado and jalapeno until smooth.
- Add the sugar, cumin and salt and blend until combined
- Pour into a bowl and stir in the olive oil, buttermilk and milk. Add more milk if needed to get the desired consistency.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until all is coated
- Serve
- Will keep in the fridge for 3 days, but best served close to room temperature
- If you can, make the dressing at least a few hours in advance to give the flavours time to develop
