Bean Salad With Radicchio, Radish, Pickled Onions, and Marcona Almonds Recipe

By
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Senior Culinary Director
Daniel joined the Serious Eats culinary team in 2014 and writes recipes, equipment reviews, articles on cooking techniques. Prior to that he was a food editor at Food & Wine magazine, and the staff writer for Time Out New York's restaurant and bars section.
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Updated Mar. 19, 2020
20150701-bean-salad-vicky-wasik-2.jpg
Great bean salads combine a variety of textures and flavors. Vicky Wasik

Why It Works

  • Using a variety of ingredients adds a spectrum of textures and flavors to each bite.
  • Quick-pickling the onions tames their pungent flavor while adding a tart pop to the salad.

I love bean salads for their ease of preparation and completeness as a one-bowl meal. The question, though, is how to prevent them from tasting like a boring bowlful of beans. The answer is simple: Go for maximum contrast, both in texture and in flavor. Here, I add layers of crispness and crunch with Marcona almonds, diced radish, chopped radicchio, and plenty of fresh parsley, scallion, and quick-pickled onion.

Recipe Facts

5

(1)

Active: 25 mins
Total: 25 mins
Serves: 4 servings

Rate & Comment

Ingredients

  • 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

  • Red wine vinegar, for pickling

  • 1/2 cup marcona almonds

  • 4 cups cooked drained beans (fresh or canned; see note), such as turtle, navy, and/or black-eyed peas

  • 3 radishes, finely diced

  • 2 scallions, white and light green parts only, chopped

  • 1 (6-ounce) head radicchio, quartered, cored, and roughly chopped

  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (from 1 bunch)

  • Simple Vinaigrette, for dressing

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, add onion and pour enough vinegar over it to just cover. Let stand 15 minutes.

  2. Place almonds in a zipper-lock plastic bag, push out air, and seal. Using a skillet, smash almonds until roughly crushed.

  3. Drain onions. In a large bowl, combine marinated onions, smashed almonds, beans, radishes, scallions, radicchio, and parsley. Drizzle with vinaigrette, tossing, until ingredients are lightly coated. Season with salt and pepper. Serve. Salad can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

Notes

If using dried beans, 3/4 pound dried will yield approximately 4 cups cooked. If using canned, 3 (15-ounce) cans should provide the 4 cups cooked beans called for here. Read more on dried-to-cooked/canned bean conversions here. To cook dried beans, soak overnight (or, if you're short on time, bring to a boil in a pot of water), then drain. Add plenty of fresh cold water to cover, along with aromatics like onion, garlic, and carrots, and season with salt; bring to a simmer and cook until beans are tender.

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
549 Calories
22g Fat
66g Carbs
28g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 549
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 22g 28%
Saturated Fat 2g 10%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 541mg 24%
Total Carbohydrate 66g 24%
Dietary Fiber 18g 66%
Total Sugars 8g
Protein 28g
Vitamin C 20mg 100%
Calcium 263mg 20%
Iron 7mg 40%
Potassium 1544mg 33%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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