The word "salad" comes with a lot of baggage, associated with restriction and lack of pleasure. But that doesn't have to be the case if you bring the right ingredients to the mix – aka, black beans.

Black beans are guaranteed to make you feel full thanks to all their fibre, and they work well with spices and herbs that will make your tongue happy. Soaking them overnight, instead of using canned black beans, lets you control the texture and also leads to better flavour.

The citrus vinaigrette for this black bean salad perks everything up.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):