Blue Ridge Black Bean Salad

Summer is upon us. It’s long daylight hours that bleed into later nights in our house.  Summer also means that I might be scrambling last minute for dinner ideas on the way home from the pool or park or whatever random thing we might do to enjoy the free time.

My mom makes this black bean salad all the time once it’s warm out.  We kinda kick-off the summer with my family for Memorial Day and have eaten this then for as long as I can remember.  I tend to keep it around our house pretty much the rest of the summer.  We will toss it on a salad, over chicken, as the topping for a stuffed baked potato, or just eat it straight with tortilla chips.  It makes a great big bowl and keeps really well for about a week.

It is a go-to in our house, is gluten-free, and mostly just all around delish!  So here’s the recipe for ya!

Blue Ridge Black Bean Salad

• 2 or 3 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained, rinsed
• 1 or 2 (15 oz) cans white shoe peg corn, drained (yellow corn may also be used)
• 1 to 2 cups cooked brown rice (I had a stroke of genius awhile back and now use a 90-sec brown rice bag.)
• 2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 each green, red and yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1 small purple onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Lime Vinaigrette

• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• red pepper to taste
• salt and black pepper to taste

For the vinaigrette, combine the lime juice, vinegar, olive oil, cumin and red pepper in a bowl and whisk to mix well.  Whisk in salt and black pepper to taste.

For the salad, combine the beans, corn, rice, undrained tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, and cilantro in a large bowl and mix well.  Add the vinaigrette and toss to mix. Chill, covered, in the refrigerator for up to several days. Serves 10-12.

Nom Nom!  Enjoy!

Also, I made you a Black Bean Salad 5×7 Recipe Card PDF that you can click here to download!