Tres frijoles ensalada – Three Bean Salad

Leave a reply
Tres frijoles ensalada

Tres frijoles ensalada

Tres Frijoles Ensalada con col Rizada  (Three Bean Salad with Kale and Fresh Squeezed Lime)

There are several ways to make this salad. The most flavorful is from scratch or from the kidney, black and cannellini beans  you made and refrigerated  yesterday.

That’s right–once you get into the habit of making beans from scratch, you will never go back.

Canned beans don’t pack the flavorful punch of beans just cooked but in a pinch they’ll do and with fresh chopped vegetables, herbs and a pinch or two of fresh ground spices you’ll still have a winner! A review of How To Cook Beans follows this recipe but remember to always boil kidney and cannellini beans for at least 10 minutes to deactivate phytohemagglutinin, a toxin that can cause symptoms similar to food poisoning. When cooking beans, ten minutes at boiling point (100 °C (212 °F)) are sufficient to degrade the toxin.

4 Generous Servings

Ingredients 

  • 2 cups cooked kidney beans
  • 2 cups cooked black beans
  • 2 cups cooked cannellini beans
  • 1 1/4 cups organic sweet corn  (frozen corn retains its flavor quite well but skip the GMO and opt always for organic or at least NonGMO); if you are allergic to corn consider substituting with diced celery, jicama, carrots or fennel
  • 1/2 medium red onion, diced
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 4 leaves of organic kale  (washed, stem removed, folded and diced). Always buy organic kale as it is one of the Dirty Dozen Plus Foods with Pesticide Residue.
  • 1 organic red bell pepper, diced (bell peppers are also one of the top Dirty Dozen)
  • 1 organic yellow bell pepper, diced
  • Vinaigrette
    • 3 T high quality California Olive Oil
    • 2 T fresh squeezed lime juice
    • 2 garlic cloves, crushed and diced
    • 1/2 t cumin freshly ground, if possible
    • pinch of fresh ground chipotle pepper
    • salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Combine beans, corn, sweet peppers, red onion and finely diced kale. Mix gently. Prepare vinaigrette and pour over salad. Toss and refrigerate for an hour or so, letting the flavors meld.

I like this twist on the classic Three Bean Salad because the kale packs a powerful nutritional punch and adds a healthy, flavorful addition to our High5Kitchen salad.

How to Cook Beans 

Two cups dried beans generally makes six cups of cooked beans.

Directions

  1. Pick through 1 cup each of kidney, cannellini and black beans, rinse thoroughly and pick through again, then soak for 5 hours or overnight in 9 cups of water. Discard soak water. I always use this method when preparing kidney beans (red and white cannellini) because of phytohemagglutinins.
  2. Put beans in large pot and cover with cool water by 2 -3 inches.
  3. Bring beans to a rolling boil for 10 minutes.
  4. After beans have boiled for ten minutes, turn heat down and simmer.
  5. Add 1t cumin and 2 garlic cloves, diced. Stir gently until thoroughly mixed.
  6. Cover beans and continue to simmer for anywhere between 1 and 3 hours. Many factors contribute to the time needed to cook beans—the age of the bean is one. Just keep tasting. You want bean skins to remain on and the bean to be tender but not mushy.
  7. When beans are done, let cool. Use six cups for the Three Bean Salad with Kale. Refrigerate extra beans and save for another dish ( you should have about 3 extra cups).

High5Kitchen Likes

The Skinny on the Kidney Bean 

Consuming half a cup of beans a day for two months can result in a 20 point drop in serum cholesterol. Eating beans regularly may also reduce blood pressure and inflammation, help to lower body weight and protect against cancer.

These are just a few reasons why the mighty kidney bean finds its way into High5Kitchen salads, sides and main dishes. For more health benefits, history and everything you’ve ever wanted to know about kidney beans visit WHFoods: Kidney beans.

Enjoy!

Leave a comment