Black Bean And Rice Salad

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This black bean and rice salad is hearty, flavor-packed, and surprisingly simple to make thanks to one pantry shortcut I absolutely love. The prep time take 30 minutes, and my stovetop does the rest. It’s naturally gluten free and vegan and can be customized in so many ways!

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 30

Total Time2

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican, Vegan, vegetarian

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 96kcal

Author: Anjali Shah

Ingredients

1 bag Texas Wrangler Black Bean Soup Mix by Frontier Soups
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red onion chopped
6-12 garlic cloves minced (or 3-6 tsp. jarred minced garlic)
1 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons orange juice
4 cups cooked brown rice can use frozen for ease
1 cup chopped peppers any variety you prefer
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
fresh chopped cilantro for garnish
sea salt to taste, optional

Instructions

Preparing the Beans:

Pick through the beans. Remove discolored, shriveled beans and any foreign material. Rinse well.
Place beans in a 4-quart pot with 8 cups fresh water.
Bring to a boil for 10 minutes, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours until beans are soft and ready to eat but not mushy. Start checking at 1 hour.
Remove from heat, drain and set aside until ready to use. This makes about 4 cups cooked beans.

Preparing the Soup:

In a 4-quart pot, sauté onion in oil over medium heat for 10 minutes, add the garlic the last 2 minutes.
Stir in contents of vegetable & seasoning packet and chopped peppers and sauté 2 minutes.
Add orange juice and broth to the pot. Simmer until the broth evaporates and the dried veggies from the soup mix are cooked. About 5-8 minutes.
Add to a large bowl with the cooked beans and rice and mix well.
Mix in fresh tomatoes and top with chopped cilantro. Add sea salt to taste if preferred.

Notes

My #1 Secret Tip for this recipe is to make sure the beans don't overcook. Because this is a salad, you want them done but still firm enough to hold up when you mix everything together. If they become mushy, the texture will not be as great.

Use precooked rice: Use frozen brown rice for an easy shortcut. You can also use the cooked vacuumed sealed rice packets but I like the texture of the frozen rice best.

Cool the beans: Let the beans cool slightly before mixing to prevent the rice from getting too soft. Much like the texture of the beans needing to be firm, you also don't want mushy rice.

Add a zesty finish: Want extra brightness? Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice before serving.

Save leftovers: This tastes even better the next day after the flavors meld. So it makes for great leftovers!

Nutrition