Treat yourself to a hearty and healthy vegetarian meal with this bowl of black beans, chimichurri, pickled onion, and pistachios. There is so much flavor and texture packed into this bowl of beans that you won’t miss the meat.
For the black beans, you can use canned beans for a really quick meal, or cook up a simple pot of black beans using a pressure cooker or just slow cook on the stovetop (as I do in the recipe below). You don’t need much seasoning for the beans because the toppings with the black beans create a dynamic flavor that will have you going back for a second bowl.
Hope you enjoy!
Black Beans, Chimichurri, Pickled Onion, and Pistachios
The following recipe may seem long because of the various components to this dish. However, each component takes a small amount of prep and both the chimichurri and the pickled onion can be made the day before. So please don’t let the recipe scare you off. This bowl of black beans, chimichurri and pickled onion is worth the effort.
A mouthwatering bowl of black beans served with chimichurri sauce, pickled onion, cotija cheese (optional), and chopped pistachios. A hearty and healthy vegetarian entree.
The cook time and instructions include cooking dried beans from scratch. You can shorten the total time by using canned beans, making this a very quick meal.
“*” See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
- 2 cups dried black beans*
- 1 Tbsp. coarsely ground sea salt
- 6 cups water
- Brined Black beans, drained and rinsed
- 6 cups water
- 1 tsp. red chile spice blend*
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- ½ tsp. salt or to taste
- ½ red onion, sliced lengthwise thin
- Brine from green olives, enough to cover onion
- Crumbled Cotija cheese (optional)
- Roasted and Lightly Salted Pistachios*, coarsely chopped
In a large bowl, dissolve the salt in the water.
Add the beans and let soak for 4 hours.
- After 4 hours, drain and rinse the beans.
- Transfer to a Dutch Oven or Bean pot
Transfer the sliced onion into a small plastic or glass container.
Cover the onion with olive brine.
Place in the refrigerator until ready to use at least 4 hours.
Before topping the beans with the pickled onion, separate the onion slices into strips.
Add 6 cups water to the beans along with the black pepper and red chile spice blend.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Cover and simmer, stirring frequently for an hour or until beans are done to your likeness.
Taste. Add salt if needed.
- Crumble the cotija cheese. (optional)
Shelled and coarsely chopped pistachios
For each serving, place a couple of ladles of beans in a bowl. Top with few strips of pickled onion.
Top each serving with 1 Tbsp. chimichurri, then a little cheese and chopped pistachios.*
Black Beans – The best beans are made from scratch. The process in the recipe is a stovetop method which takes about an hour. You could shorten the time by about 30 minutes by using the pressure cooker. To shorten it even more and eliminate the time to brine, use canned beans. Two cans should yield 2 – 3 servings. If you use canned beans, add the pepper and red chile spice blend then heat in a pot. Do not drain or add salt.
Red Chile Spice Blend – If you don’t have any, you could make a batch in about 5 minutes. Or, just use a couple of different chile powders and a touch of garlic powder.
Toppings – You don’t need much of each topping. You want the toppings to complement the beans, not overpower them.
Pistachios – If you don’t have pistachios, substitute sweet and spicy pepitas or toasted pinon (pine nuts).
If you find the cook time to be different than the recipe’s, there are a few factors that cause this:
- Age of Beans – The older the beans, the longer they take to cook. In the fall, try to buy beans from the current year to get the freshest beans that have a longer shelf life. But be careful, because the opposite is also true – the fresher the beans, the faster they cook.
- Elevation – Unless you’re using a pressure cooker, you should expect the beans to take longer at higher elevations. Remember that I live above 5000′; therefore, if you live at sea level, the cooking time may decrease.
- Soaking time – Most of the time, a longer soaking time can shorten the cooking time; however, I find it can also cause the beans to fall apart easier.
- Temperature at which you cook the beans – Obviously, the higher the temperature, the faster they’ll cook, but you’ll also have to stir more often. A medium low simmer yields a nice slow-cook and one that you can stir occasionally rather than frequently.
Note: I recently purchased 8 pounds of lightly salted and roasted pistachios from the New Mexico Pecan Company, and along with eating them daily as a snack, I’ve been adding them here and there to a few dishes. Their contribution to this bowl of beans was quite a surprise. Not only did they provide an additional texture, but their flavor was a nice complement to the other ingredients.
As you probably already know, there are a lot of bean recipes in my kitchen. To see them all, click on the category – Beans. Below are a few of my recipes that give you a nice, tasty bowl of beans for dinner.
I use a lot of pistachios in salads and we use them in sweets as well! This is a delicious dish!
Thanks Katerina! I’m with you…you can put pistachios in just about anything, they are so good!
Very interesting flavours. It sounds and looks delicious!
Thanks Marta!
This is such a unique and flavorful dish! I like the idea of using pistachios here.
Thanks Amy! The pistachios do add a nice crunch and subtle flavor.
Black beans are a relatively new discovery for me, I think I’ve had them for the first time at the beginnings of my blog, which is not particularly old. I didn’t cook much with them at first, but I have already managed to cook 2 whole dried beans packets and about 10 cans this year, they are wonderful and even my children like a good black bean soup. I would love to try this recipe, such wonderful ingredients, and all topped with that chimichurri.
Thanks Adina! I’m so glad you discovered black beans. They are my husbands favorite so we have them a lot. I like all beans, but I find you can do so much with black beans. How you get a chance to make this dish. It’s quite different.
Sorry about the red eye gravy link – I’ll get onto fixing it. This is the address – http://pattietierney.blogspot.com/2018/05/slow-cooker-roast-beef-with-red-eye.html
Cheers
Thanks Carole!
There’s so many lovely flavours and textures in this delicious dish, MJ! I’ve never cooked black beans from scratch before but you make it sound very do-able – and very worth-while too! Thank you so much for sharing, and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party. Have a lovely holiday weekend!
Thanks so much April! You really do need to make beans from scratch. They are so much better than canned! I haven’t eaten canned beans in years. Thanks for all your sharing!
This sounds great and so healthy. I love chimichurri and in fact just made some to go on top of a filet. When my son saw it he was like what’s that. Then tried it and loved it so much he slathered it on the filet. Such a healthy recipe. I love it!
Thanks Vicki! I’m amazed at how versatile chimichurri is. Personally, I prefer not to put it on a good steak, but then I’m a purist when it comes to steak. I love putting it on everything else though. 🙂
Very nice, I never saw pistachios used on a dish like this. It would certainly add a nice texture and flavour.
thanks Raymund! You are so right. The pistachios do add some nice flavor and texture.
MJ, this sounds so good! I think pistachios are a sleeper garnish, one that gets overlooked but has so many possibilities — like this one. What a creative way to add another layer of texture to the beans.
Thank Judy! Totally agree with you on the pistachios. I think most people, like me, just end up eating them as a snack and never have enough as a garnish. 🙂
I never would have thought of this combination but on reflection it sounds delicious with the pistachios.
Thanks so much Karen!
Oh wow! I love chimichurri in everything! This dish looks delicious.
Thanks so much Peachy!
This is strange: I often buy French pâtés/terrines with pistachios and had French sausages with pistachios too, but I’ve never cooked them in savoury dishes on my own! Your beans topping sounds amazing and gives me some ideas of combining pistachios with herbs… I love the pickled onion on top, too! Your magical use of brine always makes me smile!. I can imagine these onions pickled in my jalapeño-stuffed olives’ brine… I have some pickling to do this weekend 😉
Thanks so much Darlin! I use nuts in savory dishes all of the time. Pistachios are hard though because their flavor is very subtle, but no so subtle that it disappears with the other toppings in the dish. In fact, they were a great complement. Wish I had had some jalapeno stuffed olives. 🙂
This is one tasty side or main dish! So much flavor and textures. Love this!
Thanks Bobbi!
Such a flavorful way to enjoy pickled onions! Combined with chimichurri, divine.
Thanks Deb! To be honest, the pickled onion “almost” stole the show. 🙂
Very interesting! I don’t think I’ve ever topped beans with nuts of any kind! Very intriguing!
Thanks Mimi! I use a lot of toasted nuts and seeds on salads and beans. They add such a great flavor and texture. You should try it.
Very flavourful sounding bowl of beans.
Thanks A_B!
What a terrific dish! Love black beans, and with chimichurri? Fantastic idea! This is definitely a great one-dish meal — thanks!
Thanks so much John! Hey, chimichurri goes with everything right? Kind of like a New Mexico chile. 🙂
I am a big fan of all things beans 🙂 This power bowl looks delicious and awesome for a meatless meal, MJ.
You and me both Angie! We can’t get enough beans and we use them a lot for meatless meals. Thanks for stopping by!
Curious, very curious …. will be back 🙂 Thank you !
Thanks Darlin!
I have made the beans on Friday and had it yesterday with scrambled eggs for brunch ! MJ, it was great ! Thank you so much ! Hardy waiting for the new creation 🙂
Fantastic! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for letting me know. Have a marvelous weekend!