BLACK BEAN SALAD with FIRE ROASTED CORN and APPLE CIDER VINAIGRETTE

I love that this salad offers simplicity through its ingredients, but complexity in its taste. Buttery black beans, fire roasted corn, sweet red bell peppers, crunchy gala apples, and creamy bits of avocado are completely smothered in a tangy cumin-scented vinaigrette. Many people have their own version of a black bean salad, but I really wanted to make one that brought sweet, salty, and sour flavors in harmony. It’s also very budget friendly. You can save even more money if you purchase the dried black beans, cook them, and separate them into plastic bags; then store them in your freezer for later use. You get twice the amount of black beans for half the price. Now, there is some prep involved here, but extra servings can keep well for a few days—just keep the avocados and apples out and store the vinaigrette in a separate container. Add these just before serving. I recently served this at my coworker's baby shower and it was a huge hit.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1-15oz canned black beans, rinsed, (2 cups)

1 cup or 2 ears of fresh corn

1/2 cup red onion, diced

1/2 cup fresh avocado, diced

1/4 cup roasted red bell pepper, chopped

1 cup gala apple, diced (or your choice of any sweet apple, tart apples are fine too, if you wish)

1 tablespoon jalapeno, chopped, deseeded (or seeds in tact if you like heat)

2 tablespoon canola, or extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons ground cumin powder

2 teaspoons honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

Turn stove top flame on to medium high heat, and begin fire roasting the corn until all sides are lightly charred. This can take anywhere from 3-10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a mixing bowl, add the beans, onion, avocado, bell pepper, jalapeno, and apples. Leave this alone for a few minutes while you work on the corn.

Use a small paring knife to slice the kernels off of the fire roasted corn. Add these to the bowl and toss everything together.

In a separate (small) bowl, add the oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, salt, pepper and whisk until this vinaigrette is completely emulsified. It should be smooth, you know, look like ahomogenous dressing. If you peeked down at the side of the bowl, you should not be able to spot the division between the vinegar and oil.

Taste, adjust seasoning if necessary. Add the vinaigrette to the bowl and toss. Serve immediately.

Priyanka