Hamptons Epicure Recipe: Black Bean Chopped Salad

I like to keep cooked black beans and chicken in the refrigerator to whip up one-dish meals like this one—a crunchy and satisfying lunch or dinner—you might have all of the ingredients in your kitchen right now….

Of course, if you also happen to have an avocado, some radishes or sautéed mushrooms, at hand as well, all the better—chop those babies up and throw them in too!

BLACK BEAN CHOPPED SALAD
Serves 2 as a main course
Serves 4 as a hearty side dish

Ingredients
For the marinade:
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Amagansett Sea Salt or kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

6 cups of fresh, chopped salad greens or whole baby greens
4 stalks celery, minced
2 15-oz. cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
4 cooked medium beets, chopped
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1/3 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
salt, pepper

Directions
1. Place all marinade ingredients in a large jar with a lid. Shake to combine.

2. Add beans to jar and shake gently to mix. Leave jar upside down to rest. Allow beans to marinate at room temperature for at least half an hour.

3. Arrange greens in serving dishes.

4. Add celery to greens.

5. Spoon beans over greens.

6. Top with beets, chicken, cucumber and egg.

7. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds.

8. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

*This salad is naturally gluten-free. To make this dish vegetarian, omit the chicken.

9. To make this dish even more luscious, stir 1/4 teaspoon of cumin into 1/3 cup of yogurt and dollop.

10. Compost vegetable trimmings.

Stacy’s cookbook The Hamptons Kitchen, co-written with Hillary Davis, is due out from The Countryman Press in July, 2019.

You can follow Stacy’s informed and opinionated foodie adventures on Twitter @hamptonsepicure

Read more Hamptons Epicure and check out more recipes.