Green Girl Goodies: A Guide to Happy Healthy Eats: Southwest Black Bean Taco Salad

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Southwest Black Bean Taco Salad

Green Girl Goodies, February 2012

At first glance this salad sounds time consuming but it is worth the work! You save a bit of time by using some canned items and all the different recipes will create leftovers you can use to make more delicious meals. Also try adding other vegetables like grilled corn, diced red peppers or anything else you desire to change it up a bit :)…enjoy!

Tortilla Chips

Yield 2 to 4 servings

5 ea Corn Tortillas
2 tb Vegetable Oil
½ tsp Sea Salt
½ tsp Cumin, ground
½ tsp Chili Powder
½ tsp Garlic, minced

- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Combine vegetable oil, salt, cumin, chili powder and garlic in a small bowl and mix well.

- Stack all the tortillas carefully and cut them into 6 even pieces

- Place the tortillas into the oil mixture and carefully mix the tortillas to evenly coat them with the oil mixture.

- Spread the tortillas on 2 baking sheets, leaving plenty of space so the chips cook evenly.

- Cook 5 minutes, then rotate the pan. Cook approximately another 6 minutes or until the tortillas are golden brown and crispy.

- Let the chips cools completely and store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

Salsa, Mild

Yield 1 quart

14.5 oz Canned Diced Tomatoes
¼ c Red Onion, rough chop

¼ c Yellow Onion, rough chop

1 tb Garlic, crushed

1 ½ tb Lime Juice (approximately ½ of a large lime)
1 tb Lemon Juice
¼ c Cilantro, hand torn

1 tsp Sea Salt

- Place both types of onion and garlic in a food processor and pulse until almost minced.

- Add lemon and lime juice, salt and juices from the canned tomatoes.

- Hand tear the cilantro as you add it to the onion mixture.

- Pulse the food processor to blend the ingredients.

- Add the drained tomatoes back to the food processor and blend well.

- The salsa can be stored properly refrigerated for up to 7 days.

Spicy Cilantro Lemon Crema

Yield 1 cup

1 c Plain Yogurt
1 tb Cilantro, minced
½ tsp Garlic, minced
2 tsp Lemon Juice
½ tsp Sea Salt
Pinch Cayenne Pepper

- Combine all ingredients except the yogurt in a small bowl and mix well

- Add yogurt and stir well to combine. The crema can be stored properly refrigerated for 3 to 5 days.

Taco Salad Components

Yield 2 to 4 Servings

15 oz Black Beans, canned*

FOR THE BEANS:
1 tb Garlic, minced
1 ½ tb Lime Juice
1 ½ tsp Cumin
1 ½ tsp Chili Powder
¼ Cayenne

- Drain and rinse the beans.

- Place the beans in a small bowl and add the seasonings.

- Let stand at least 1 hour for the flavors to combine. The beans will keep properly refrigerated for up to 4 days.

*The particular beans I used were pre-salted so I didn’t add any salt. If your beans are not pre-salted, add salt to taste.

REMAINING INGREDIENTS:

6 c Romaine Lettuce, shred

¼ c Red Onion, small dice

1 c Tomatoes, small dice

1 ea Avocado, small dice right before serving

*Use as Desired:
Cotija or Feta Cheese, crumbled
I prefer Cotija for a more authentic taste!

- All the ingredients besides the tortilla chips can be thrown in a bowl and mixed but for a nice presentation try this:

1. Place the lettuce in a mound in the middle of your plate.

2. Place onions in a small ring around the top of the lettuce.

3. Place a small mound of tomatoes at each end of the plate.

4. Place chips between the tomatoes, 4 on each side. (Serve extra chips on the side)

5. Place a layer of beans on each side slightly on top of the chips.

6. Use your hands to crumble the Cotija (or place the feta) on top of the bean layer.

7. Using a small spoon, carefully pour the salsa in a layer above each side of beans and across the top middle of the lettuce.

8. Using another small spoon (so as not to mix the salsa and crema) place 2 large dollops of crema over the middle of the salad.

9. Cut your avocado as seen above. Place it over the top middle of the salad and enjoy!

The salads pictured above are rather large entrée portions and can be scaled down to serve as a side salad or split into 3 or 4 generous entrée salads instead of 2. We didn’t have any trouble eating ours for a filling yet light dinner!