Black Beans Wild Rice Salad

Black Beans Wild Rice Salad is an almost-no-cook recipe for a warm/cold salad that you can prepare in a jiffy.  Perfect for those days when you don't have time to cook elaborate meals but need all the nutrition you can get. You can easily customize it to suit your taste. Vegan plus gluten-free

You can make this in advance and store it in the refrigerator. The flavors wild develop beautifully with time making the salad more delightful. This salad is a whole meal, and can be served as a light meal or even as a side salad for your barbecues. 

If you like a warmer version of the salad, try this wild rice with garbanzo beans recipe. It is a keeper if you go by the feedback I get on Pinterest. If you like pasta salads, here are two more for you to enjoy - orzo garbanzo bean salad, and cold pasta salad. 

Ingredients and Instructions 

This salad uses a simple homemade Vinaigrette which is quite easily customizable to suit your taste. It uses fresh ingredients and can be prepared as part of the salad. No more store-bought stuff. 

INGREDIENTS

• cooked wild rice
• black beans
• Red bell pepper
• red onion
• olive oil
• lemon juice
• Red chili flakes
• dried parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Cool the rice to room temperature. Make the Vinaigrette by mixing olive oil, lemon juice, red chili flakes, parsley, salt, and pepper. Add wild rice, black beans, red bell pepper, and onions to a mixing bowl. Drizzle the Vinaigrette . Mix well. Serve immediately. You can refrigerate the leftovers. This can be made in advance and stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator until ready to use. 

What Can You Use Instead of Wild Rice?

This is a vegan and gluten-free salad recipe. I use wild rice in the recipe because of its complex flavor profile and I love the texture. You can substitute wild rice with any of the following and enjoy a delicious, healthy salad. 

• Quinoa
• Brown rice
• A combination of brown rice and quinoa
• A combination of wild rice and quinoa. 

If you planning to cook the brown rice, quinoa, or wild rice at home forms scratch, do that in advance so that they are completely cooled down before using in the recipe for best results. 

Canned Or Dried Beans? 

It really does not matter. You can choose to use either of those and the salad will be delicious no matter what. 

CANNED BEANS

If you are using canned beans, look for brands with the low sodium option. Rinse and drain the beans completely before using them in the recipe. 

DRIED BEANS

If you want to use the dried beans, soak them overnight in lots of water. Drain the water and cook the beans either on the stovetop or using a pressure cooker before using in the recipe. I use either my instant pot or my stovetop Indian pressure cooker to cook the beans. Allow the cooked beans to cool completely before using them in the recipe. 

What Else Can You Add-In The Salad?

• Green Bell Peppers
• Pan-Roasted corn kernels will taste amazing in the recipe.
• If you do not like the red onions, substitute them with some yellow/sweet onions. 
• Cooked kidney beans will be a nice addition and add a lot of protein as well. 
• Spinach
• Dried cranberries
• Sunflower seeds add a nice crunch

Make-Ahead Ideas

The flavors develop over time and make the salad tastier as the flavors develop. So, in fact, this is a wonderful dish to make ahead of time and store in your refrigerator. 

Plan ahead of time if you are cooking rice (wild rice or brown rice or quinoa or a combination) from scratch. Plan to have sufficient time to cool them down before using in the recipe. Spread the cooked rice (or quinoa) in a large tray to speed up the cooling. 

Similarly, if you are planning to use dried beans in the recipe, take into account the time required to soak the beans and cook them. Allow the beans to cool completely before using in the recipe. 

If you are hard-pressed for time, you can use canned beans and microwavable quick-cooking rice in the recipe. 

This bean and wild rice salad make for an amazingly nutritious and tasty recipe. This salad works well as a grab-and-go lunch staple. Mix the salad in a mixing bowl and portion size into a mason jar to make it easy to grab-and-go lunch.

This is how I make it most of the days.

• I rinse and drain the black beans. (Sometimes way ahead of time.)
• I use a store bought ready-in-90-seconds (Microwaveable) Uncle Bens wild and brown rice.
• While the rice is getting ready in the microwave, chop the vegetables and make the salad dressing.
• Toss it all in a big bowl and TA-DA! Ready in less than 10 minutes. Seriously!
• Start digging in!
• If you do not want to use microwaveable rice, you can cook the rice ahead of time and reheat it.
• This quantity usually serves two adult appetites with a wee bit of leftovers.