I don’t know about you, but this salad just screams FRESH to me. It’s flavorful, crisp, and very filling, making it a perfect dish to serve on warm summer days. Plus, let’s not forget that it’s extremely colorful, and to me, colorful dishes are always more fun to eat. Don’t you agree?
Packed with vegetables and protein-rich beans, this salad not only makes the perfect side dish for dinner, but also makes a great option for a quick and easy lunch. You can even make it a main dish by adding some chicken or simply serving it with tortillas or over a bed of greens to keep it a vegetarian dish. Or, use it as dip for some tortilla chips and you have an easy snack or appetizer! If you cannot tolerate grains, then simply leave out the corn and this dish will be perfectly safe for you to eat! It’s extremely versatile in the way that it can be eaten, making it a dish I frequently have on-hand.
All it takes to make this beautiful dish is a little bit of chopping and opening cans, and before no time, you’ll have a delicious meal sitting in front of you.
It’s perfectly acceptable to use dried beans and cook them on your own, however I like to make meals as quickly as possible, so I use canned beans. This way, all I have to do is rinse them, drain them, and throw them into the bowl! Just make sure you look for canned beans with no salt added or reduced sodium, and be sure to give them a good rinse before using them.
When everything is all prepped and mixed together, I always refrigerate the salad for at least 2 hours (up to overnight), because that way the flavors have a better chance to blend together, making it much more flavorful. The time when this salad is chilling in the fridge is the perfect opportunity for you to prepare the rest of dinner or just sit back and relax! Before no time, you’ll be well on your way to enjoying this tasty and incredibly fresh summer salad.
- SALAD:
- 12 oz. corn*
- 2 (15-ounce each) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans
- 1 (15-ounce) can great northern or cannellini beans
- 1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and diced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 avocado, diced (for topping)
- DRESSING:
- 3 TBSP olive oil
- 2 TBSP fresh lime juice
- 2 TBSP red wine vinegar
- 1 TBSP lemon juice
- 1 TBSP honey
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ tsp. each: cumin, chili powder, black pepper
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- In a small bowl whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. Set aside for now.
- Combine the corn, beans, bell pepper, onions and jalapeño.
- Pour the dressing over the beans/veggies and mix well.
- Adjust seasonings to preference and then top with diced avocado and fresh parsley.
