This hearty Turkish salad has a little bit of everything: the protein power of black-eyed beans, the freshness of carrots, the crunch of walnuts, and the sweetness of bell peppers – all in a tangy citrus spiked dressing.
It is simple, clean, super easy to make and just darn right delicious. Also, ideal to serve as appetizer, main course, lunch or dinner.
What ingredients you need?
A few simple ingredients are all that is required for this recipe:
- Black eyed beans
- Some veggies: carrot, red onion, spring onion, bell pepper
- Fresh parsley, handful walnuts and fresh pomegranates (can be replaced with other ingredients too)
- Pomegranate molasses or vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper.
Dried or canned beans?
Beans are the key ingredient in this salad so their texture and flavour matters.
Canned black-eyed beans are probably very convenient but the dried ones have more flavour.
A good rule of thumb when deciding whether to use canned beans or dried is how prominent they will be in your dish. If they make up a good part of the dish, it’s recommended to start with dry beans.
When pre-soaked for a few hours, black-eyed beans can easily be cooked in the amount of time it takes you to prep the other ingredients for this salad.
Just don’t add salt to the cooking water; it prolongs the cooking time. Also, make sure you rinse them immediately after cooking with cold water. It helps them retain their colour and texture. You want a little bite to them.
How to prepare?
The process is pretty simple. Basically, a bit of prep work, bunch of chopping, a little mixing, and that’s it!
And trust me, with happy vibrant colors like the ones in this recipe, chopping and mixing can be quite therapeutic.
Can’t find a particular ingredient?
Make sure you have the beans! Rest can be improvised!
- Pomegranates add a great refreshing texture but you can replace with any sweet and sour berries of your choice.
- Walnuts have a very delicate texture but can be substituted with other chopped nuts too.
- Also, pomegranate molasses can be replaced with vinegar, lemon juice or other fruit reductions.
How and what to serve with?
This salad is great on its own, as part of a mezze spread or with grilled or otherwise simply pan-fried fish, chicken or a flank steak.
Serve cold.
A step-by-step video tutorial is available in my Insta highlights. Do have a look before you start making the salad! Come back to rate the recipe and if convenient, do send me a photo of your remake. I love receiving your feedback!
Black-eyed Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried black eyed beans
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 medium carrot grated
- 1 small red onion sliced in half moons
- 2 spring onions finely chopped
- 1 cup pomegranate arils see notes *
- 1/2 cup walnuts roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup parsley coarsely chopped
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp pomegranate molasses see notes *
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp Salt or more
- 1/2 Tbsp black pepper
Instructions
- Soak the dried black eyed beans overnight in plenty of cold water. They will double in size.
- Drain, rinse and put the beans into a pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil and allow to cook for 35 - 40 minutes. Drain and rinse the cooked beans immediately with cold water to retain the colour and texture.
- Stir in the chopped vegetables to the cold beans and toss gently.
- Add the fresh pomegranate arils, chopped walnuts and toss gently.
- In a small bowl, mix extra virgin olive oil, pomegranate molasses, honey, salt and pepper.
- Pour the dressing over the salad. Adjust the seasoning and add more salt if required.
- Serve cold.
Notes
- You can also pressure cook the soaked beans to save time.
- The pomegranate molasses in this recipe can be replaced with:
- 2 Tbsp black vinegar or lemon juice. OR
- 1/2 cup juice of any sour red/blue berries cooked and reduced to 2 Tbsp. - The fresh pomegranate arils add a beautiful crunch and refreshing flavour to the salad. If you cant find hold of them, try replacing with any sweet and sour type of berry you like.
This likes so yummy will definitely try it amazing presentation
what a beautiful salad 😍
My occasional go to recipe because of its simplicity, beautiful presentation and unique and subtle flavors.
A very easy flavorful salad & the walnuts gave it the perfect crunch