Recipe of the Week, with modifcations...

Sorry about the low quality, indoor-at-night, with-a-flash photo

THE QUICKEST BLACK BEAN SALAD

  


I had to make a few modifications to this recipe. First of all, my local, amazing Co-op did not have water chestnuts...which is fine with me because I think canned water chestnuts are lame...so for the crunch factor I substituted half of a Chioggia beet (which is a beautiful thing) lightly blanched and cooled, and a few stalks of celery. Second, I added one fresh jalapeño, finely diced, to give it a little zip. Third, I love citrus so I used the juice and zest of a whole lime, not just a half. It improved the salad.

This salad is delicious and I will be making it regularly but next time I will cut back on the amount of onion. I find it too oniony.

Here is the recipe from Forks Over Knives and the link...

THE QUICKEST BLACK BEAN SALAD
By Ann and Jane Esselstyn
Makes 4 bowls
Ready In: 8 minutes

INGREDIENTS:
Two 16-ounce cans black beans 
(I used beans that I soaked overnight and then cooked. Why use canned beans??)
drained and rinsed WELL!
1 very large tomato, chopped
1 package frozen corn (I bought frozen organic corn from the Co-op)
½ Vidalia onion, chopped (next time I will use less than this)
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
and rinsed (I substituted as noted above)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
½ lime, juice and zest (I used a whole lime)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or
more to taste (I used 4 tbsp.)

Instructions:
1. Add beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, and water
chestnuts to a bowl (glass looks pretty) and mix.
Rinsing the beans well keeps the salad from looking
gray.
2. Add cilantro, lime, and balsamic vinegar and mix
again. Serve alone or with cucumber open-faced
sandwiches for a perfect meal.

Link to recipe on Forks Over Knives website