Another Delicious Vegan Recipe

This one is perfect for the summer, since it's a cool salad. We loved it, and it was super easy to make. It also tasted really good as a chip dip, if you can believe that. Or you could wrap it up in a burrito as well. Good stuff.

Black Bean & Corn Salad with Southwestern Lime Dressing

Makes 10 servings (Ok, that's what the recipe said, but no, more like 5)

Serving size: ½ cup (Who really only eats 1/2 cup of salad?)

Ingredients:

Salad:

15 oz. can black beans (I actually used 2 cans to beef it up since it was dinner)

15 oz. can corn (or 1 ½ cups fresh corn)

¼ red onion, finely chopped

½ to 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (I used a whole one from a can)

¼ bunch fresh cilantro, chopped (leaves only)

½ red bell pepper, chopped

½ cup Southwestern Lime Dressing

Optional: (I used all the optional things and was glad I did, even though I could live without the olives)

½ can olives, chopped

1 avocado cut into bite size chunks

1 handful baby spinach chopped

Steps:

Rinse corn and black beans in a colander.

Mix all salad ingredients in large salad bowl.

Pour dressing over salad and toss. (I kept the dressing on the side and let people pour as much as they wanted on their own serving)

Tips and Notes:

Serve at room temperature or chilled. Salad will last for several days in the fridge

Southwestern Lime Dressing:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup agave nectar

1/3 cup white rice unsweetened vinegar

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

1/3 bunch fresh cilantro

1 jalapeno chili pepper (seeded) (I only used 1/2 since I didn't want it to be too spicy for my kids)

1 tsp. fresh garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

Blend dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth. Stores in fridge for several weeks. Can use on mixed greens also.

The most recent time I made this, I added a couple of cups of cooked, cooled quinoa. What a great idea! It made it more filling, while adding a healthy, whole grain to the salad. I'll be doing that every time from now on.