I am beginning to think that I don’t keep a lot of food in my apartment on purpose just so I can exercise my creativity.
I am the type of person who can’t eat leftovers very long. I always have to switch up the meal in some way just to ensure that it’s eaten. I also don’t like wasting food.
For that purpose and the purpose of this blog, it’s great.
But, when a friend asked me to bring a dish to her annual Fourth of July celebration, I was stumped.
I looked in my fridge and all I had was some staple items, a couple ears of corn on the cob, green peppers, red onions and some fruit. I also had a couple bags of frozen vegetables in the freezer.
I considered taking macaroni salad with salmon, but another friend was bringing baked macaroni and cheese bites so that would be too much pasta.
Instead of thinking about the typical barbeque foods, I thought about color and what would be the most visually pleasing.
At least, that is what I was going for when I decided to make a Black Bean and Corn salad with a twist.
Salad Ingredients:
– 1 cup of black beans
– 2 ears of corn
– 1 small red onions
– 1 small green pepper
– 1 cup of diced pineapples
– 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
– 1 handful of cherries (optional – used in the second batch to add color)
– seasoning: cumin, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, salt, sugar, basil, parsley
Dressing Ingredients:
– 1 tablespoon of lemon or lime juice
– 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
– 1 teaspoon of white vinegar
– 1 tablespoon of olive oil
– 1 teaspoon of sugar
If you are not using canned black beans like me, make sure you soak them for a couple hours or overnight. Cook on medium heat for about an hour, let them cool off and then rinse.
Take the kernels off the corn if you are using corn on the cob. Also, chop up the onions, green peppers, pineapples and cherries (optional). Though the fruit might seem weird in a black bean and corn salad, it adds to the flavor, freshness and color of this dish, which is what I was going for.
I sauteed the red onions, green peppers and minced garlic in the pan with the seasoning. This step is completely optional. I personally only like green peppers and onions when they are cooked.
Mix your ingredients when everything is cooled and set aside while you make the dressing. Add any additional seasoning to taste, then refrigerate before serving.
Interested what I paired this salad with? Like the Facebook page!
Enjoy!
