Healthy lunch doesn’t get better than this! This Easy Veggie Black Bean Salad with Zesty Lime Dressing is the best vegetarian and gluten-free meal prep recipe for lunch (or a simple side dish!) all week long. Made with peppers, kale and carrots tossed together with a homemade dressing with cumin, honey and lime, this salad is delicious!

This easy-peasy superfood salad (I mean, we are talking black beans AND kale here) is one of those good AND good for you salad. (AKA – the best kind of salad!)

I am all about cooking once and eating many times these day (ie. big batches and lots of leftovers are how we roll these days) and this Veggie Black Bean Salad is definitely that! I mean, just knowing that I don’t have to think about what to eat for lunch for a couple days makes life so much easier. And even easier when I know lunch is this good too!

I love the flavour combination here – a little bit zesty from the lime, a little bit sweet from the honey, a little bit spicy from the chili powder, cumin and hot sauce (if you’re using those), a little bit earthy from the kale and parsley and so much texture from the beans and chopped veggies. There’s a little bit of something everyone will love with this salad.

Easy Veggie Black Bean Salad with Zesty Lime Dressing

Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4

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Description

Healthy lunch doesn’t get better than this! This Easy Veggie Black Bean Salad with Zesty Lime Dressing is the best vegetarian and gluten free meal prep recipe for lunch (or a simple side dish!) all week long. Made with peppers, kale and carrots tossed together with a homemade dressing with cumin, honey and lime, this salad is delicious!

Ingredients

Scale

For the Dressing:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon honey (or use other liquid sweetener – agave or maple syrup, if vegan)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
Fresh ground pepper

For the Salad:

3 cups finely chopped kale (tough stems removed)
2 cups canned black beans, drained and rinsed well
1/2 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrot (from 1 small peeled carrot)
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup; or use any colour pepper)
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

Instructions

IN A JAR WITH A TIGHT-FITTING LID, SHAKE TOGETHER THE DRESSING UNTIL SMOOTH – OLIVE OIL, LIME JUICE, honey, SALT, CUMIN, CHILI POWDER, PEPPER. SEASON THE DRESSING TO TASTE, ADDING MORE SALT OR LIME JUICE, IF NEEDED. SET ASIDE.
TO A LARGE MIXING BOWL, ADD THE KALE. DRIZZLE HALF OF THE DRESSING OVER THE KALE AND MASSAGE FOR A MINUTE OR TWO UNTIL THE KALE IS WILTED AND SOFTENED.
ADD THE BLACK BEANS, parsley, carrot, pepper and onion TO THE KALE. POUR THE REMAINING DRESSING OVER TOP AND MIX WELL. SEASON WITH ADDITIONAL SALT AND PEPPER IF NEEDED.
BEST IF SERVED IMMEDIATELY. CAN KEEP IN THE FRIDGE FOR UP TO 2 DAYS (ADDITIONAL SALT AND LIME JUICE MAY BE NEEDED IF SERVING A DAY OR TWO LATER)

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1

MORE ABOUT THIS EASY VEGGIE BLACK BEAN SALAD RECIPE

I used 2 cups of canned black beans here (a 19 oz can drained and rinsed well) because canned beans are so easy. If you have some cooked beans on hand you can use those instead but canned beans are so easy.

My kale of choice here was the darker, lacinato-type kale (AKA black kale, Tuscan kale, dinosaur kale, etc) but any kind of kale you can find in the grocery store will work. I usually go for the curly kale because that’s all my supermarket stocks but I was able to find this black kale and I must say I like it a lot. And especially when mixed with lots of fresh parsley too.

As for the veggies – red onion, red pepper and shredded carrots. You can use whichever kind or colour of onion and pepper you have on hand – just make sure you chop it really find so it blends and fits in better in the salad. You could even add in some spicy jalapeño pepper or other hot pepper too. And those shredded carrots, you can chop them too (or substitute more peppers instead if carrots aren’t your thing) but there’s just something about the texture of the shredded carrot.

The dressing for this salad is lime (or lemon), honey, olive oil and some spices. Adding the ground cumin and chili powder into the dressing gives this salad a little bit of tex-mex flare (especially with all those black beans!), which will always be a favourite in my kitchen. You can adjust the spice levels of this salad by adding a little hot sauce or skip the spices altogether.

To assemble? Just mix everything all together, massaging the kale as you go to allow it to become tender and delicious. This salad is a great make-ahead lunch or addition to any dinner and will keep in the fridge for about 3 days.

I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE AS MUCH AS I DO! IF YOU GIVE THIS EASY VEGGIE BLACK BEAN SALAD RECIPE A TRY LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW AND BE SURE TO SHARE A PICTURE ON INSTAGRAM USING THE TAGS @ALWAYSNOURISHED. I LOVE TO SEE WHAT YOU’RE COOKING!