Curried Bean Salad Recipe
This bean salad recipe salad features pretty heirloom beans along with a few black lentils, splashed with a brightly-flavored ginger-curry vinaigrette.
A bean salad will be as ordinary or extraordinary as the beans you start with. There's nothing wrong with using canned beans, but if good quality dried beans are parked just next door (and you get more beans for the money), it might be time to trade up. Trust me, it's like going from driving a Hyundai to a BMW. This salad features pretty Pebble beans alongside thinner-skinned Mayacoba and a few black lentils, all splashed with a brightly-flavored ginger-curry vinaigrette. You can certainly play around with the types of beans you use, I had two types of beans cooked up, and some black lentils in the freezer. With a minimal amount of chopping and a touch of whisking the salad came together in just a few minutes.
The Pebble beans are delightful to look at, a lot of fun to cook with, and although their colors and marks fade a bit during the cooking process in the end they still retain a nice amount of visual flair. The beans (from a single bush - not a blend) range in color from ivory to pale mustard, fleshy-pinks to cocoa colored. The second bean I used was the Mayacoba, a seductive pale mustard color when dried, they lose most of that in the hot water. This Peruvian bean works well in a salad like this because it's a cameleon of sorts, quite adaptable, nice texture, and it tends to take on the flavors around it - in this case the curry dressing.
More often than not the beans I use are from Rancho Gordo. Steve and his crew sell at my local market and I've cooked my way through many of his beans (which are also available via mail order). Steve's latest Rancho Gordo endeavor is an heirloom bean cookbook published by Chronicle Books - and it looks like it is shipping any day now. I'll feature a recipe from it as soon as I get my hands on a copy.
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Curried Bean Salad Recipe
The key to cooking beans from scratch for a salad like this, is to cook them until tender, but not until they are falling apart. Feel free to make the curry vinaigrette a day or two in advance. If you like a creamier dressing, toss a big dollop of Greek yogurt into the curried vinaigrette, taste, and go from there. I use black lentils here because they hold their shape quite well, you definitely don't want to use a bean or lentil that goes to mush.
3 cups cooked beans - I used equal amounts Pebble beans and Mayacoba beans, but you could certainly use white beans, black beans, black eyed beans, whatever - I bet edamame would be great in this salad. And while I like to cook my beans from their dried state, this is a forgiving salad and canned beans that have been well rinsed will work too. You can serve this salad hot or at room temperature, whatever your preference.
1 cup cooked black lentils*
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced into crescents
3/4 cup celery, chopped1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon of fine-grain sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of your favorite curry powder
1-2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger (from 1-inch cube of fresh ginger, peeled)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
In a large bowl toss the beans, black lentils, red onion, and celery. Make the curry vinaigrette by mashing the garlic clove with the salt into a thick paste. In a bowl or jar whisk together this garlic paste, the curry powder, fresh ginger, lemon juice, and olive oil. Whisk well, taste, and add adjust flavors/salt if needed. Pour about half of the dressing over the beans and give it all a toss. Add more dressing a bit at a time until it is to your liking. Taste, make sure the salad has enough salt or the the beans will taste flat and the rest of the flavors won't pop. I like to serve this salad family style in a big bowl or on a platter with a big spoon all sprinkled with cilantro.
Serves about 4 - 6 as a side.
*Wash and pick over the lentils. Place them in a large saucepan and cover with water using 2-3x the quantity of lentils. Bring to a boil, scale back the heat a bit and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Taste along the way, when done the lentils should be tender but not splitting apart. Salt to taste at this point. Remove from heat and drain any remaining liquid.
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This was wonderful! I made it at the last minute before a cookout using canned chickpeas and pre-cooked Trader Joe’s lentils. The chickpeas seemed to soak up a lot of the dressing, so I topped it with more lemon juice and olive oil after it was all put together. DELICIOUS, lovely to look at, and a breeze to make. Everyone had something good to say about it.
I’m from Arizona, and there really is never that great of a selection of fresh food, except for the staples (apples, oranges, lettuce, etc.) It’s either hard to find, and therefore ridiculously overpriced, or in a dried .99 cent package form.
That said, I couldn’t find any beans mentioned, so I used what I found: black beans, cranberry beans, great north beans, and red lentils.
I also used dried ginger root, and dried cilantro.
The result was awesome! It was like a curried bean paste (the red lentils mashed up), with more beans! My roomates loved it too, thinking that I found the recipe off of an Indian cookbook.
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve always wanted to experiment with curry, and I’ve never prepared dried beans before, so this was an adventure!
Great recipe! I tried this using Madras curry powder and it tastes wonderful
I made this with chickpeas because that’s what I had in the house, and it was absolutely wonderful!
I love beans but have somehow forgotten them over the summer. I’ll definitely try this recipe as I am into all things ginger at the moment!
I have been freezing frozen cooked beans successfully for years. I wrap the beans in can-sized portions and then line them up in big zip-top bags. With most recipes, I can then just fling the frozen beans into the pot in the last 5 minutes or so of cooking. With a salad, though, I reheat the beans to kill off any gremlins they might have picked up in the freezer.
As for pressure cooking, mine does beans soaked for a day in anything from 2.5 to 6 minutes, depending on the bean. I can do 4–5 varieties, one after the other, in under an hour, including wrapping them up once they cool.
Kathleen… I’m not 100% sure about what they call this in South Africa, but I know that the Aussies and Kiwis call it “coriander”. It’s often used in Asian chutneys and Vietnamese food, not to mention salsa (yum!).
I hope this helps 😉
such fresh ingredients in this…a must try!
this looks delicious! Can I ask – what is your favorite brand/mix of curry?
I am a huge advocate for the use of dried beans. Canned are fine in a pinch, but I really prefer the texture of the dried.
Great recipe!
I made this today.. Had some left over garbanzo beans that I cooked up a couple of days before and used those. A can of cannellini beans rinsed and drained and cooked up some mayacoba beans. Everything was the same. This salad is terrific. My husband loves it.. Great flavors.
this sounds really good, i like spicy foods, but they don’t like me. lol
Ms Recipe
Sadly, I’ve never cooked beans from scratch opting to open a can instead. I’m determined to change that, and this is the perfect recipe to start with. Thanks!
it looks a meal by itself…
it looks a meal by itself…
I made both this recipe and the Lime & Peanut Coleslaw to bring to my friend’s bbq and they both received rave reviews. They were perfect light and flavor packed dishes to combat the humid and stormy Grenada weather. Thanks.
I have been searching for black lentils since the Lively Up Yourself soup recipe. Where can we find them?
I am from South Africa. Please tell me what Cilantro is? Love all your recipes, thank you so much for sharing…
Thank you for you very important information,This includes foods from both plant and animal sources. The best choices are those that are high in protein but low in fat and calories, such as legumes beans, peas and lentils, which are also good sources of fiber fish, skinned white-meat poultry, fat-free dairy products and egg whites.
I adore your blog. What platform do you use for the site?
Cheers!
*Heather*
This looks awesome! I think I will try this tomorrow for a cookout! A great alternative to the typical potato or pasta salad.
Thank you for posting! I love anything with curry, as well as cilantro, so this is a must try recipe for me 🙂
I just made this recipe and it’s excellent. I’ve been looking for ways to subsist on lower cost foods, but the problem with beans is that plain they’re very, well, plain. This is a great way to spice them up! So good — and healthy too!
I love beans! My problem is that I sometimes overcook them a little, but I will try using your tips here…the plate sure is lovely!
Dear Heidi,
I would love to post on this site, but I don’t know how to do this! I have an unusual (but very good) recipe for hummus that I came up with on my own, after some experimentation! Your latest recipe sounds yummy, and it appears as if lots of your readers are interested in some of the basics in preparing any type of dried beans from scratch.
Please note: the recipe I want to post contains homemade chicken broth, therefore it might not be suitable for all of your readers. However, I’ve been reading some previous commentary, and I think some people might be interested in making various bean recipes using homemade broth made from chicken, beef, pork, or fish broths.
How do I post?
All best,
Lauren
me 2 favorite things… beans and currie!!!
I don’t know if you’re intending to, but your comments thread is displaying commenters’ email addresses. And the recipe looks and sounds delicious. I just bought some Pebble Beans from Rancho Gordo last week and have been pondering how to prepare them. Thanks!
You can cut the time down to under two hours from dried bean to cooked bean — I never soak overnight anymore, and always use the pressure cooker. Just rinse and sort the beans, then put them in a bowl and cover with boiling water, let sit an hour. Then pressure cook. Time varies depending on the bean, but in general you can cut the pressure time by about 20% if they’ve had the 1-hour soak (and they’ll have a firmer texture, be more whole). You can do black beans WITHOUT SOAKING AT ALL in 45 minutes in the pressure cooker; 25 minutes for unsoaked chickpeas, 15-18 minutes if soaked. I can have black bean burritos on the table an hour after I walk in the door.
We have overdone bean salad this summer in other words we are sick of, so I was worried about my partner throwing it at me if I made another bean salad…
BUT…OMG! I made this bean salad yesterday for company with a mix of the beans I had in the house and the seasoning you suggested. Everyone was going CRAZY for it! We love it! It was a whole different experience for our palettes!
Thanks Heidi!
We have overdone bean salad this summer in other words we are sick of, so I was worried about my partner throwing it at me if I made another bean salad…
BUT…OMG! I made this bean salad yesterday for company with a mix of the beans I had in the house and the seasoning you suggested. Everyone was going CRAZY for it! We love it! It was a whole different experience for our palettes!
Thanks Heidi!
Great! If you’re a straight vegan, beans is one of the best sources of proteins.
http://www.foodista.com
This is really interesting. The different beans really do give it an interesting visual appeal, and the curry powder dressing is different.
The dish looks really yummy but i’m a stranger to some ingredients however wil try it out. i’m a vegetarian n a foodaholic. so thank u so much
I made it last night. Delicious! I couldn’t believe something so simple can be so tasty.
I’m folowing your site for a while now and everytime I decide to cook something from here I am amazed how easy to cook is and tasty and healthy. Congrats! You’re one of a kind!
Oh this looks good! I am obsessed with beans! I will probably have to give this a go, I have no choice.
I love beans and would love to know how to cook or how long so they don’t fall apart. Because I’ve never made dried beans for anything else other than to go with rice. Canned beans never fall apart, even in soups. Help please, what’s the trick? Love your blog and your photography ! Yum,
Courtney
@ Alison:
Here in Mexico we eat plenty of beans, I have grown watching my mom and grandma preparing them, so I’m pretty familiar with the process. You need to start any recipe with beans the night before. Put 1 or 2 cups of dried beans in a large bowl, and add the double amount of water. Let them soak overnight. The next morning, drain and rinse the beans over a colander. It is important to discard the soaking liquid, otherwise the sugars dissolved in it can cause flatulence :-S Now you can cook your soaking beans in the traditional clay pot, or in a pressure cooker, with enough salt, until they are tender. Usually they take from 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the method you use. When your beans are done, you can mash them and fry the mashed beans in a little oil with onion and chipotle chili, to make “frijoles chinitos” in the mexican style. Good luck!
🙂
You wondered if edamame would be good in this salad. Well, I make a very similar salad and using black beans, corn and edamame and it’s delicious! I was so pleased to see this recipe on here since you make such lovely dishes and this is just something I made up at home.
i love these reciepies and look forward to them everyday, Thanks.
monu
I love legumes but sometimes get confused about how to prepare them. How long to soak? Do I dump the liquid that they have been soaking in? What if the legumes start to sprout? Are they edible then? I was reading in a book recently that traditional societies soaked their grains and legumes for 24 hours or more, sometimes as long as a whole week!
HS: I link you to Steve’s instructions on the Rancho Gordo site up above. But if I don’t feel like dong the mirepoix, I’ll soak the beans all day or overnight. Then fill a pot with the beans and enough water to cover the beans by a few inches, and then boil uncovered until the beans are allllmost finished cooking, then I add salt and finish up.
dear heidi: where did you get the plate you used in the picture?
HS: There is a whole story behind that plate (and some of my other favorite platters), and I’ll write about them at some point, but the short answer is – they are vintage Swedish and I have a friend who brings them back when she visits.
Thanks so much for the link to the Rancho Gordo site–wow, i can’t wait to try their European heirloom sampler!
Since I’m very pregnant right now and interested in freezing meals, is it possible to freeze the beans after they’ve been cooked (instead of just after soaking)? I’d love to have some of this salad and other bean dishes on hand for once this little one arrives.
HS: Hi Laura! I’m not positive about freezing cooked beans. If you give it a go report back!
Well that looks like a great dish. I am trying to eat more veg. and be healthy. Thanks for making it some bit easier.
Lovely looking salad. I love how you combined different beans in the salad. I imagine that would bring different textures to play as well as flavor. The dressing sounds wonderful too!
ooh I’ve never even heard of some of these beans! i’m tempted to sprout some beans I have at home and make this recipe raw!
I always get new ideas reading your posts: it’s amazing to me how you make me “travel”… tastefully!
Definitely going to try this, and thank you for the link to Rancho Gordo. I just put in an order!
Love bean salad and this version looks yummy. To speed up bean cook time, soak beans for 8 hours and then freeze. Beans will cook fork tender in 20 to 30 minutes. Do not have to thaw bean to cook, just adds a little more time to cooking process.
This looks great. I’m a convert to using dried beans as much as possible. So delicious. Do you do anything special to your re-hydtrated beans before you freeze them? It seems like a good way to have some already ready to just thaw and add…
blog walking…:)
Ive never heard of pebble beans before. Looks like a fantastic lunch dish
Nice! Long live the pulse, the bean and all grains. They just don’t get enough attention:)
Thanks Heidi!
heidi, your picture shows some cilantro in there too, no?
It looks absolutely delicious — I love beans and curry, so a perfect combination!
what beautiful plates! are they an heirloom?
yummy~
and i made a onion cake today,hehe~
so coincidence:)
Yum!! My mouth is really watering at the thought of this salad with the curry dressing.especially with the yoghurt. I have just finished eating my way through a big pot of Black Bean Soup with Kale and Fresh Herbs from the San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook, which somebody very kindly sent me for Christmas one year. Now that it is finally getting warmer here after all the snow last week this looks very appetising indeed.
Oh I got those pretty Pebbles at the Ferry Plaza market last time I was there, as I remembered seeing them featured here on this site beofore! They are so pretty. Haven’t gotten around to using them yet (I know I should!) and this salad seems a perfect fare.
Looking forward to reading/seeing more from your latest trip to South America.
This sounds delicious! I don’t cook dried beans often, but this might just be enough to make me to it.
this sounds (and looks!) absolutely delicious!
ohh it looks so fresh and tasty I’ve got a bunch of vegan buds that this will be forwarded to
The ginger-curry vinaigrette sounds fantastic. And I am a big fan of spicy salads with sprouted/cooked lentils so this looks like a great recipe to try. Thanks.
I am always looking for more great ideas for beans. This looks awesome, thanks for posting it!
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