Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Black eyed bean salad and my submission for BWW#118

Few days back while cleaning the pantry shelves I found these black eyed beans. I'm not a big fan of these beans. Once in a while I use them to make mixed dal. But for some reason looking at the half filled jar of these black and white beans, I found them very interesting and clicked some pics of these not so loved beans. And to be honest whatever the bean may taste like, I found them to be very camera friendly and photogenic. The first shot  below was clicked in daylight, using a Nikon D600 and 105mm lens. I used a homemade reflector (aluminium foil wrapped over a hard board) to lit up the front.


After I clicked the first one I thought of changing the mood of the pic and placed a black cloth as a background, the second image appeared very dramatic. I changed the saturation of the second pic to make it black and white, the following image is my submission for Black and White Wednesday event. This event was initially started by Susan of Well Seasoned Cook and now being managed by Cinzia of Cindystar. This week it's being hosted by Sreevalli of Ammaji Kitchen. Thank you Sreevalli.


Black eyed beans are called lobia in India. I remember my mother used to cook a simple dish with these beans. But I was never fond of that curry. I made a quick and healthy salad. You can have this as a healthy lunch or serve with crackers as a snack.


It is a very easy and quick salad. Either you can use dried beans or canned beans. If you are using dried beans, them soak them overnight in enough water. Rinse well and cook before making the salad or any other dishes. I used simple ingredients, onion, tomato, cucumber etc for the salad. And made an easy vinaigrette flavored with parsley and garlic.


Things needed to make Black eyed beans salad:

  • Cooked or canned black eyed beans: 1 cup
  • Red onion (diced): 1/4 cup
  • Tomato/ cherry tomato: 1/3 cup
  • Cucumber (diced): 1/3 cup
  • EVOO: 3 tbsp
  • Apple cider vinegar: 1 tbsp
  • Garlic (minced): 1 tsp
  • Parsley: 1 tsp
  • Honey: 1/2 tbsp
  • Chili flakes: 1-2 tsp
  • Black pepper powder to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • Feta cheese (optional)
  • Crackers to serve (optional)


Steps of making Black eyed beans salad:

1. If you are using canned black eyed beans, then drain and keep the beans aside. If you are using dried beans, then the beans are need to be soaked in enough water for atleast 8 hrs or over night. After proper soaking drain and wash the beans and cook. This cooked beans can be used in various ways.

2. In a bowl add EVOO, vinegar, honey, chili flakes, salt, black pepper, parsley, garlic, mix well. Add cooked beans and other ingredients, mix well. Serve immediately.

I used dried parsley, you can use fresh, in that case increase the amount to 1 tablespoon. I used cheery tomato, you can use any of your choice.

Serving suggestion: Sprinkle feta cheese on the salad and serve with some multi-grain cracker.


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