Mexican Kale Salad with Avocado and Black Beans

Here is our healthy, fresh, Mexican inspired Kale Salad with Avocado, Black Beans, Cherry Tomatoes, Spinach and Red Onion. We like to serve it with our Creamy Garlic Cashew Cream.
It makes a great dinner on it's own, or you can use it as a tasty side salad along with your favourite Mexican dishes. We've enjoyed this with Enchiladas, Quesadillas, Chilli and Fajitas.

Jump to:

• What You'll Need
• How to Make it
• Substitutions & Variations
• Storage
• Recipe Tip
• FAQ's
• Other Meal Ideas
• Recipe
• Comments

What You'll Need

Ingredients

• Avocado - Avocados are a great source of heart healthy mono-saturated fats, and gut friendly fiber. Including them regularly in your diet is also linked to reduced instances of heart disease. Look for Avocados with a darker green skin, that feel soft when gently pressed. If the avocado is still hard it means it's not quite ripe yet. You want a very ripe Avocado, aka a very creamy Avocado. be careful not to mistake a bruised avocado for a ripe one though! We also love to use Avocados for our Delicious Chunky Guacamole.
• Black Beans - Black beans help prevent cancer because they're filled with phytochemicals that protect your cells from damage — and black beans are thought to be even more packed with antioxidants than other varieties of beans. You can add them to salads, like this one, or chilli, soups, tacos, or burritos. They're also good in desserts - go and check out our Vegan Black Bean Brownies!
• Cherry Tomatoes - Cherry Tomatoes are cheap, tasty, sweeter than larger tomatoes, and great for your body. The iron in the Kale, Spinach and Black Beans will be absorbed more easily by your body when eaten with Cherry Tomatoes. This is due to their Vitamin C content.
• Cilantro - Commonly called Coriander in the UK. You can buy big bunches of fresh coriander from greengrocers and supermarkets cheaply. Using more fresh herbs in our diets not only adds tonnes of flavour, but it's great for your body. For instance, a 10g serving of fresh Coriander contains nearly 40% of your recommended daily Vitamin K intake.
• Cucumber - If you're finding it hard to get your kids to drink more water, get them to eat it instead. Cucumbers are 95% water! They contain Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5 and B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium & Zinc.
• Kale - High in iron as well as many other vitamins and minerals. It's a Super-food because of how good it is for us. We used curly Kale in this recipe, it looks great in salads, and is the most common type sold in supermarkets. Other ways to enjoy it are blending it in to smoothies, or by adding it to a creamy pasta bake.
• Olive Oil - This is for massaging the kale leaves so that they soften enough to be enjoyable to eat. They can be quite tough if you don't. Adding healthy fats to your salads, in small quantities, is a great way to boost heart and brain health.
• Lime Juice - A common ingredient in Mexican cuisine. It also helps to preserve your Avocado. Lime Juice contains a lot of antioxidants which stops it from oxidizing (turning brown).
• Red Onion - Red onion is sweeter and milder than white onion. Its used in this salad as it compliments the other ingredients, also for the slight crunch it gives and for it's colour (think 'eat the rainbow'). If you don't enjoy the taste of red onion you can swap it for scallions (UK - spring onions).
• Salt - This is for massaging the Kale prior to adding in the rest of the salad ingredients. We use it to help soften the kale leaves and add flavour. We also use a small amount in our Garlic Cashew Cream, again for flavour. People tend to be scared off of using salt in recipes, but it's important to note that salt is important for our health too, we need it as much as we need other nutrients. The key is to not add too-much. Always start by adding a little salt, and taste your food as you're making it, adding more as needed. If you're used to eating high salt foods, it will take a few weeks of using less, for your taste buds to adjust.
• Spinach - A well known Superfood. Loaded with nutrients, in a low-calorie package. Dark, leafy greens like spinach are important for skin, hair, and bone health. They also provide protein, iron, vitamins, and minerals. Wash your spinach before use.

Equipment

• Chopping Board
• Colander or Sieve for rinsing the beans
• Large Salad Bowl
• Sharp Knife

How to Make it

• Step 1 - Wash your Kale and remove any large stalks (by cutting or ripping them away from the leaves). Tear in to bite sized pieces and place in all to your large salad bowl.
• Step 2 - Add the Olive Oil, Salt, and Lime Juice to the bowl of Kale (check the recipe card below for quantities).

• Steps 3 & 4 - Now it's time to massage your Kale. Do this by grabbing a small handful of the Kale at a time and rub it between your thumb and fingers, along with the oil, lime juice and salt. Make sure everything is evenly coated.
  You'll feel the Kale start to soften as you rub it. The more you rub it, the softer it will get. Taste a piece , if its still a little tough, continue rubbing for another couple of minutes.

• Step 5 - Dice the Red Onion and Coriander. Then chop the Avocado and Cucumber in to chunks. Next quarter the Cherry Tomatoes, and loosely chop the Spinach. Transfer all of those in to your salad bowl along with the Kale and Black Beans.
• Step 6 - Toss it all together and squeeze over a little Lime Juice before serving.

Substitutions & Variations

As with most salads, it's very easy to customise this recipe a little more. Below are some suggestions on what you can add in to your salad to mix things up a bit:

• Mango - Cut up a whole medium sized Mango in to chunks about the size of your fingertip. Add to the bowl when you add in the rest of the ingredients, then stir together.
• Quinoa - To boost the protein content of your salad you can add in some cooked, cooled Quinoa. To cook your Quinoa, firstly measure out the amount you want to use (1 Cup should be adequate). Place it in a sieve and rinse it well, using your fingers to move the quinoa around in the sieve as it rinses.
  Once rinsed, add the 1 cup Quinoa to a saucepan along with 2 cups water. Bring to the boil and then reduce down to a simmer until the Quinoa has soaked up all the water (roughly 16-18 minutes). To be sure how to cook your Quinoa correctly, check the packet instructions.
  Once cooked, turn off the heat and transfer to a bowl to cool down. Once cooled, fluff up the Quinoa with a fork, prior to adding it to your salad bowl.

Storage

An un-dressed salad can last in the fridge for 2-3 days. If you've already added a salad dressing, such as our suggested Garlic Cashew Cream, the salad leaves may only last a day in the fridge before wilting too much.
For best results when storing, place 1 or 2 pieces of kitchen roll to the bottom of the bowl or tub that you are planning to store your salad in, prior to adding the salad. This will help soak up any excess moisture, and therefore make your Kale Salad last longer.

Recipe Tip

If using a salad dressing, we recommend waiting until the salad is served before adding it, to avoid the spinach wilting too soon. Alternatively serve the dressing separately, and everyone add it themselves.

FAQ's

Other Meal Ideas

Here are a few of our other Delicious Recipes you might like to try.

Recipe