Black Bean and Corn Salad

This salad is absolutely wonderful! It is fresh, cool, and the perfect variation on a "typical" salad. I love salads that are different and I'm glad I've come upon this recipe. I looked for this salad specifically because I had a jicama I needed to use. Have you ever had a jicama? Mm, I love jicama! It is a sweeter vegetable that looks a lot like a turnip and tastes a whole lot better. It is delicious raw and can also be cooked in any dish with other vegetables. A stir fry or fajitas with jicama would be delicious. Just sayin'. It can be a bit starchy; I'm no expert but I'm thinking that it gets starchy quality when it is old. I've linked a video below that you can look into to see how to prepare jicama. In the video you'll be able to see what a jicama looks like {since I forgot to take a picture before I excitedly cut into mine}.



As much as I love jicama raw, I didn't want to just eat the whole thing by itself {it was a large jicima!}, so I decided to put it in a bean and corn salad. I found this recipe on AllRecipes and with just a few modifications, I've got the perfect summer salad.

Black Bean and Corn Salad
Recipe Modified from All Recipes
Ready in 25 minutes
4-5 servings {I think you may be able to get 6 depending on the size of your serving}

Ingredients:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 bell pepper, green or red, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup jicama, chopped
1 tsp. ground cilantro or 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

Directions:
Place lime juice, olive oil, garlic and salt into a container with a tight lid. Cover with the lid and shake until ingredients are well mixed. Set aside.
In a salad bowl, combine beans, corn, bell pepper, tomato, green onion, jicama and cilantro. Shake the lime dressing once more and pour over the salad. Stir salad to coat all ingredients and serve.

Delicious!

Note: If you want this salad to go further, serve over a bed of lettuce.

PS - check back tomorrow for an introduction to a new contributor to this little 'ole blog! I'm excited to have her cooking along with us!