Black Bean and Corn Salad

I’m pretty excited today, y’all. Because I’m doing something I haven’t done in many years. I’m taking two consecutive weeks off from work. No, not from the blog, from my real world work. And the best part…the grandkids are coming tomorrow. Today is their last full day of school. Tomorrow is a half day and guess who’s going to be there to pick them up and bring them back when they get out? Yep, me! BeeBop and I can’t wait to have them to ourselves for two whole weeks. And their parents are pretty excited about having some “quiet time,” too.

We have lots of fun things planned for the next two weeks. Even though we’re not going away, there are loads of things to do right around us here in north Georgia and we’re going to explore as many of them as we can. I might even let them take over the blog for a day or two. How fun would that be?

When your summer days are packed full of fun and family, the last thing you want to do is spend time cooking complicated recipes, right? Yeah, me either. So it’s nice to have some really simple, easy to make and healthy recipes on hand like this black bean and corn salad. It’s low in fat, high in flavor and has a healthy dose of protein from the beans. Best of all, it requires no cooking so there’s no heating the kitchen!

If you can open a few cans and cut up some veggies, you can make this salad. Just prep all your ingredients according to the recipe’s instructions, toss them in a bowl and let them sit for a while to develop the flavors. This salad is great with grilled chicken or fish. Even hamburgers. Whatever you put on the grill, this salad will probably compliment.

Drain and rinse a can of black beans. Drain a small can of whole kernel corn. I rarely recommend a brand, but for this salad I really like Del Monte’s Summer Crisp corn. It’s sweet and, well, crisp. Very crisp. And gives a nice contrast to the beans. Dice the bell peppers and green onions and mince the parsley. Toss all that in a bowl. Then add the olive oil, lime juice, pepper and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours, and up to 24 hours, before serving. Easy as pie!

Other bean salads you might enjoy from around the internet:

• Simply Recipes’ Three Bean Salad
• White Bean Salad with Tuna and Parsley from Kalyn’s Kitchen
• Tomato and Green Bean Salad from Leite’s Culinaria
• Guilty Kitchen’s Black Bean Salad
• Black Bean Salad Boats from She Wears Many Hats

What I was cooking…

• One year ago: Summertime Pasta Salad
• Two years ago: Fried Okra
• Three years ago: Pimiento Cheese