An easy side dish to accompany tacos.
The theme of cooking with legumes and specifically for myself seems to be omnipresent. I’ve always loved time in the kitchen, whether cooking for myself or a crowd. My husband on the other hand is a go out to eat guy. If I travel, he’ll be at a local place getting a steak or a wedge salad. When he travels, I made things he doesn’t like, such as ch-alad (recipe here). None of this is judgmental. To each their own. It just makes me laugh to see what a creature of habit I can be.
The original post from November 2010
After a Sunday afternoon spent shopping for outdoor gear and winter sports attire for two of my children, an easy to make dinner was in store for us. As we were without my husband due to business travel, the idea of using legumes, his least favorite food item, was high on my list. Plus, we were having our dear friends, Miss Vicki and OT, join us for dinner, so I wanted something that we all would enjoy but wouldn’t keep anyone busy in the kitchen. Thus, a simple Mexican menu was planned.
I already had decided to make fish tacos, as they require little preparation and can be made to order by each diner. An entreé such as this would allow me to create a side dish that utilized some sort of bean. The typical side dish of refried beans seemed too heavy (and kind of boring). However, black beans are one of my favorite beans and make a great ingredient in salads, at least as far as I’m concerned.
There isn’t any actual cooking involved in making a black bean salad. A little chopping, draining, and mixing, and you have a colorful and tasty salad. The one recommendation I would make is to prepare the salad early (3 or 4 hours), so that the ingredients have time to mingle. The salad’s taste really intensifies with time.
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
- 1-1/2 cups corn*
- 1/2 red pepper, seeded and diced
- 4 scallions, diced
- juice of 2 limes
- 1 teaspoon honey
- salt & pepper
- Combine beans, corn, pepper, and scallions in a large bowl.
- Combine lime juice and honey in a small bowl, and stir well.
- Pour juice mixture over bean mixture, and toss to coat well.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Refrigerate for at least 3 or 4 hours.
- *Use either frozen corn that has been defrosted or fresh corn that has been cut off the cob.
