Summer Bean & Cilantro Salad

One of the extraordinary characteristics of North Carolina is that you have a long spring season and a long fall; basically, two of the best seasons for the longest period of time. The summer can be brutal here. Hot foods are no longer comforting. Enter Cilantro; THE summer time herb of choice. It’s refreshing and zesty and I crave it in the heat. It also grows quickly and in abundance when you plant it from seed.

Cilantro also makes eating healthier foods, sometimes not the tastiest, into a great experience. The first summer bean salad I made was for the Shakori Bluegrass festival. We needed food for the weekend and Lish loves cilantro and salsa was not an option, since we had eaten it 3 nights that week. This is really easy to make and it works well for summer BBQ pot luck or any party you will be attending in the heat. Canned beans are really the easiest and this dish should take no longer than 15 minutes to make all said and done. Feel free to mix up the beans—cannellini, black eyed peas. The ones in this recipe were whatever was in the pantry.

Ingredients:

1 15oz. can of Navy beans
1 15oz. can of black beans
½ bunch cilantro
½ large sweet onion or 1 whole red onion
½ lemon or lime
½ Tbsp. of cumin
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Pinches of salt & pepper

1. Pour the canned beans into a colander and rinse thoroughly. Drain.
2. Dice the cilantro and onion.
3. Cut the lime or lemon and juice into a mixing bowl. Add cumin, olive oil and 2 pinches of salt and pepper.
4. Add all the ingredients into the mixing bowl and stir. You may want to add some more cumin, salt, and pepper depending on your preferences. I always add more cumin than necessary.