Spiced Pinto Bean Salad with Avocado Dressing
A gorgeous Spiced Pinto Bean Salad on top of baby spinach with homemade Creamy Avocado Dressing that is ready from scratch in 15 minutes. Perfect easy healthy meal for the summer!
Servings: 4 side dish servings (or 2 large dinner salads)
Calories: 220kcal
Ingredients
Spiced Pinto Bean Salad:
- 1 15-oz can pinto beans , drained and rinsed
- 1/2 teaspoon Cajun spice (taco seasoning will work great too!)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 large handfuls baby spinach
- 1 cup grape tomatoes , halved
- 1/2 avocado , diced
- 1 medium cucumber , thinly sliced
- 1/2 small red onion , thinly sliced
- 4 oz queso fresco (or feta), chopped or crumbled
Avocado Dressing:
- 1/2 avocado
- 2 tablespoons plain low fat yogurt
- 1/4 cup water
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 small garlic clove
- 1 scallion , roughly chopped
- Salt to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon), pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the pinto beans and Cajun spice and cook for 3-4 minutes over high heat, stirring constantly. The beans will crisp up and start popping. Remove from heat and allow to cool as you prepare the rest of the salad.
- Prepare the dressing in a small food processor or magic bullet: Add all the ingredients and process until smooth.
- Arrange the salad: On a large platter (or 2 large dinner plates), arrange the spinach, topped with rows of Spiced Pinto Beans, halved grape tomato, cucumber slices, onion slices, cubes of queso fresco, and chopped avocado. Top with Avocado dressing.
Nutrition
Calories: 220kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 227mg | Potassium: 391mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 765IU | Vitamin C: 10.7mg | Calcium: 189mg | Iron: 0.5mg