Summer Black Bean Salad
This Oil-Free Summer Black Bean Salad recipe was inspired by a recipe from Amelia’s Aunt Marie. It’s easy to make and full of color and flavor. It tastes great all by itself as a side dish, or over a leafy green salad.
Last time we were back in Atlanta visiting Amelia’s family, her mom Jane made us this dish and everyone loved it! Aunt Marie included olive oil and cheese in her recipe, so we just removed those and didn’t notice them missing. In fact, I’m guessing the cheese would overpower the mild flavors of the other veggies.
A friend of ours told us this recipe is similar to Cowboy Caviar. However, real Cowboy Caviar also has black-eyed peas, diced tomatoes, and several other seasonings. Aunt Marie’s recipe is certainly a lot easier to make with its fewer ingredients and most of the flavor coming from the salsa.
Amelia’s mom inspired us to make more dishes with salsa as the flavor enhancer. It’s a lot easier and faster to make a delicious dish when all you have to do is open a jar of salsa and pour it in. We generally use my Grandpa’s Vegan Dipping Hot Sauce instead of store-bought salsa because we think it tastes better and it also saves us about $3/jar.
This recipe makes a great side salad for your favorite Mexican dishes, like Vegan Tortilla Soup or Mexican Lasagna.
If you choose to eat this Summer Black Bean Salad over leafy greens, you may want to add some fresh lime juice and/or vinegar to the greens beforehand to give them more flavor.
If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.
- 1 15oz can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 15oz can corn drained-or frozen corn, thawed
- 3/4 cup salsa
- 3/4 cup green onion thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup celery diced
- 1 medium red pepper diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp cumin
- Assemble your ingredients.
- Rinse the black beans. If you're using frozen corn, thaw it first by running hot water over it.
- Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir well. This is best chilled for a few hours or overnight before serving to allow the flavors to blend.
- This makes a great side salad with your favorite Mexican dishes.
- It's also great over your dark leafy greens. Add some lime juice and/or vinegar to the greens first to give them more flavor.
Serving size is 1 cup.
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