Sophisticated Beans

Grant and Sharon Showley are husband-and-wife cooking partners. Together, they run Showley’s at Miramonte in the Napa Valley. Before that, they had a restaurant in Newport Beach.

The food they cook, as Grant Showley describes it, is “a combination of California, French, Italian--an American melting pot. We like clean, uncomplicated flavors and beautifully presented food.”

The following salad relies on the Showleys’ love of Mexican cooking. “We used to serve it at our Newport Beach restaurant before moving to St. Helena,” Grant says. The salad is made with Roma tomatoes, Mexican chiles, lime, jicama and black beans. You can add cooked chicken, seafood or duck to make a main-course salad.

SHOWLEY’S AT MIRAMONTE BLACK BEAN SALAD

Salt

2 cups black beans, rinsed

1 small jicama, peeled and finely diced

2 Roma tomatoes, finely diced

1 green pepper, cored, seeded and finely diced

2 carrots, peeled and finely diced

2 stalks celery, finely diced

1 red onion, chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 bunch Italian parsley, minced

Chile-Lime Dressing

Freshly ground pepper

Heat enough salted water to cover beans to boil. Add beans. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook 45 minutes or until beans are tender, but still whole. Drain and cool.

Meanwhile combine jicama, tomatoes, green pepper, carrots, celery, red onion, green onions and parsley in large bowl. Add beans and Chili-Lime Dressing to vegetable mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Marinate several hours. Serve at room temperature. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Chile-Lime Dressing

Grated zest and juice of 3 limes

1 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon chile paste or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Combine lime zest and juice, olive oil, chile paste, cilantro and garlic. Mix well. Makes about 1 1/3 cups.