Black Bean and Tomato Salad with Croutons and Olives

This appetizing black bean bean and tomato salad adds color and crunch to many kinds of meals, and is especially good with grain dishes and vegan quesadillas. You can even make it a main dish salad in the summer, served with fresh corn. It takes minutes to put together and gets its yum factor from crisp croutons and green olives.

It’s one of those recipes that’s hard to blather on about, so I won’t. I’ll conclude by saying that if you like black beans, make this salad — you won’t regret it. To feed a bigger crowd, this doubles easily.

BLESS YOU, BLACK BEANS

These small dark beans are famous for their role in black bean soup and in Cuban cuisine and are a flavorful part of Mexican, Southwestern, and Mediterranean cuisines as well. Their pleasantly bold flavor holds up well to strong seasonings such as thyme, oregano, cilantro, and cumin.

• Black beans are wonderfully enhanced by onions, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice.
• As a salad base, black beans combine well with bell peppers, corn, tomatoes, and scallions.     
• Black beans are delicious served with simple rice dishes and as part of tortilla specialties like this one.
• Black beans make a great base for dips.
• A more offbeat use that’s become popular in recent years — black bean brownies!

Recipe is adapted from Vegan Express by Nava Atlas. Photo at top by Susan Voisin, FatFreeVegan.com.

Explore more …

• Black Bean Recipes
• Tasty, Easy Bean Salad Recipes
• Orzo Salad with Black Beans & Corn
• Savory and delicious olive recipes

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Yield: 4

Black Bean Salad with Tomatoes and Croutons

Print

This appetizing black bean and tomato salad adds color and crunch to a meal. 

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 large or 4 medium flavorful ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup green pimiento olives, halved
• 1 cup croutons, homemade (see note) or prepared
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, cut into short strips
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a serving bowl and stir together.
2. Let stand for 5 minutes, stir again, and serve.

Notes

Making croutons is a great way to use up bread that's less than fresh. Simply cut into squares and bake in a 300ºF oven (a toaster oven is ideal for this) for a few minutes, until dry and crisp. The amount of time will vary depending on what kind of bread is used. Watch it carefully and stir up once or twice.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 257Total Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 483mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 12gSugar: 6gProtein: 12g

Nutrition data is always an estimate depending on program used to calculate and exact products used. This is given for informational purposes only and accuracy cannot be guaranteed.

See lots more plant-forward salads & sides.