The Perpetual Feast

This is an easy salad that can be varied in many ways. I like it because it is a make-ahead dish that you can take to a potluck when you’re busy, Potlucks will be an ongoing occurrence here – once people know you can cook, they invite you to potlucks, so I am forever pondering what to bring,

Which brings me to my first eating Principle: Never bring anything to a potluck that 1) you can’t eat; and 2) it won’t be ok to eat if you have to bring leftovers home. For me, who has no will power, nothing is worse than bringing home a gooey something that I feel I have to eat so it won’t go to waste.

All right, on with the recipe.

Southwest Corn and Black Bean Salad

2 cups canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups crisp canned corn, drained
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
3 Tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt (I like sea salt)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (more if you like things hot)

This is super easy. Mix everything together and chill overnight.

This makes 1/2 cup servings with 1 gram of fat/serving.

Variations: You can use other colors of pepper, or green onions instead of red. You can add grape tomatoes cut in half. I had some left over, and I added about a quarter pound of those little cooked salad shrimp to it. This added about another gram of fat, but made it more substantial to take for lunch.