Corn & Black Bean Salad

After a couple of weeks of awesome yet fatty cooking I found myself craving something a wee bit healthier this week. I may have mentioned this before, but I'm not generally a fan of salads - the ones that do appeal to me usually have about the same amount of calories as a cheeseburger, and I invariably find myself hungry again half an hour later!

I first made this salad for my friend's baby shower a couple of weeks ago and it was so popular I knew it would be making an appearance here before too long. The recipe below is a tweaked version of the one I found on my beloved seriouseats.com 

It was a great dish to make for a party as it was easy to double it up for a larger crowd, and it actually benefits from being made the day before, leaving you free to attend to other pre-party chores.

The black beans and avocado provide enough protein that you can eat this salad by itself for a fulfilling lunch or snack, or it makes a perfect side dish for many main meals. Using leftovers from the baby shower, it also made some really tasty quesadillas! Last night I chose to serve it with some rotisserie chicken for a quick and healthy dinner.

Anyhoo, here is what you will need for roughly 6 to 8 servings:

• 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 ears of cooked corn, kernels cut from cob
• 2 red bell peppers, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• zest of one lime, plus 6 tbsp of fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 avocados, chopped

1. Put beans, corn and bell pepper in a large bowl.
2. Whisk garlic, shallot, salt, cayenne, sugar, olive oil, lime zest and juice, and cilantro in a medium bowl to make the dressing.
3. Pour 2/3 of the dressing into the beans, corn and bell pepper and toss to coat well. Taste, and determine if you need to add more dressing. (The first time I made this I added all the dressing at once and found it a little wet for my liking. This time I added maybe 3/4 of the dressing and reserved the rest to use on a different salad this week)
4. Cover and chill salad for at least half an hour, and overnight if you have time.
5. Before serving, add avocado and toss gently to avoid squashing the avocado. Serve at room temperature.