Lemonchick's Blackbean-Corn Salad
I wanted to do something simple for healthy lunches/dinners this weekend and remembered a salad I used to make. This recipe is totally adjustable dependent on your tastes; add more or less of something or substitute a different kind of bean even. Using canned beans & corn and prepared pico de gallo instead of all fresh ingredients is way less time consuming (there's no shame in using canned ingredients). To start, I gathered all of my ingredients together and washed and chopped half of a bunch of cilantro (stems and all). I drained and rinsed one can of black beans (I used a low-sodium variety, but I like to rinse them anyhow) and then scooped the beans into my mixing bowl. Next up was draining and rinsing a can of corn and you guessed it, scooping that into my bowl. I let that sit while I cubed up 5oz queso fresco cheese. After putting the cubed cheese into the bowl, I added about 1 cup of prepared pico de gallo (finely diced tomato, onion, jalapano and cilantro) to my bowl. Using my favorite wooden spoon (Yes, I have one), I tossed the ingredients together, before adding the extra cilantro I had chopped. I added the juice of one small lime, poured my concoction into an airtight container and then placed it in my refrigerator.
When I was ready for lunch today, I washed a bit of regular, plain ol' iceberg lettuce garden salad mix and put it in a bowl. I scooped about 1/2 cup of my blackbean-corn salad mixture onto the garden salad (I'm not sure; it may have been more; I didn't use a measuring cup). I sprinkled some black pepper on the salad and drizzled buttermilk ranch dressing over top. I also added a little drizzle of hot sauce. If I had had tortilla strips, I would have added some for a little crunch.
How'd it turn out you ask? Good. I enjoyed it. The only major thing I would have done differently, would be to have used the whole 10oz of queso cheese, because I love cheese and would have liked cheese in more bites.
So, if you decide you want to try this salad, remember like I said, you can adjust ingredients as you like. Do you like pinto beans better? Use pinto beans. If you don't like onion or cilantro, you could leave those out as well, but I definitely suggest adding diced tomato. Don't like tomato? Leave tomato out. Do you like spicy? Add extra, diced jalapeno. Don't like queso fresco? Use shredded Monterrey Jack or Cheddar. And, you can use a different salad dressing if you like. I should add that although this recipe is vegetarian, shredded chicken or carnitas (shredded roasted pork) would be delicious on this. You could even use sliced steak. This salad is also good as a side dish if you don't like lettuce.
*I present to you Lemonchick's Blackbean-Corn Salad*
No comments:
Post a Comment