Southwest Bean Salad Featuring Jacob's Cattle Beans

Last month I was contacted by Slow Food Sacramento an organization that promotes "good, clean, and fair food for all."  They asked me to participate in a Mystery Ingredient promotion that would feature local farms.  If you know me, you know I love my local farms and farmer's markets!  I'm so grateful to live in the Sacramento area where I can buy so much food locally!  I accepted the challenge and waited anxiously for my mystery ingredient to come.

I was so excited to receive some Jacob's Cattle Beans from Elegant Beans.  I learned so much when I opened the package.  Did you know that there are beans that are almost extinct?  I only knew about nearly extinct animals.  I didn't realize that this also effected plants!  I also didn't even know that we had a local bean farm.  Elegant Beans and Beyond been farming in our area for 160 years!  

Onto the recipe!  I struggled a bit coming up with a recipe for beans since I really wanted to make a soup but it was 110 degrees outside so no one wanted to EAT said soup.  I decided to do a spin on a side dish I make that my family loves which is a dressed cucumber dish with lime and chili powder.  I used my Instant Pot (affiliate link here) to cook the beans and it was SO quick!  I was sent a cute sample sized bag of beans and I'm guessing it was a cup or so of beans?  I don't know.  I added 3 cups of water and cooked them for 40 mins and they were perfect!  No soaking, no prep work.  It was amazing!  

Here's the recipe:

3 C Jacob's Cattle Beans, cooked

1/2 a Cucumber, diced

1 Jalapeno, finely diced 

2 Ears of Corn, cooked and cut off the cob

1 cup Grape Tomatoes, halved

1/2 a Lemon

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder to taste

Cilantro for Garnish 

Combine beans and vegetables in a bowl.  Dress with lemon and olive oil.  Season to taste.  Chill for at least 1 hour for the flavors to marry.  Serve with lemon and cilantro.  If you don't want heat, you could substitute the jalapeño for a Serrano pepper or even a bell pepper.

This is a great Meatless Monday meal since there is a ton of protein in the beans.  However, you could also serve it as a garnish to a quesadilla or other Mexican food.  This bean salad would also be great for a potluck since there's no dairy or mayo.  If you make this, please tag me in a photo!  I'd love to see what you think of it!  

Connect with me on social media:

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

SaveSave