Black Bean Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

I always try to save some of Gene’s dried black turtle beans for spring so that I can make this when we have fresh cilantro.  There are many recipes on line for the salad and the dressing.  We first found them in our Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers cookbook and have been making variations of it ever since.  This salad can be served over a bed of fresh lettuce or can be served, along with some rice and shredded cheese as filler for a wrap. 

To cook the beans in the Instant Pot,  rinse them, cover them with water and cook them as per the directions came with the cooker (I usually cook them for about 24 minutes.  About 7 oz of dried beans  (a jelly-jars worth) makes the right amount of beans when cooked up.  You can always substitute canned beans if you don’t have any dried left.  While the beans are cooking, drain a can of corn and chop up a few pickled cherry peppers and a small onion.   When the beans have cooled a bit, toss the beans, peppers, onion and corn together with about a 1/4 cup of your favorite salsa.

To make the dressing, throw a generous handful of fresh cilantro into the food processor and then add the juice of about 3 limes. Mix this for a moment and then add a dash of Hungry Bear garlic salt, some salad oil or plain yogurt and mix some more.  All of the dressing ingredients can be adjusted to arrive at the desired taste/texture.