Veggie cooking: Corn and Black Bean Salad



So Anita and I were talking about Oprah today, this is not a topic I usually indulge in, as in the 25 years that she has been on I can count on one hand the number of episodes I have seen in full.  Dr. Phil weirds me out.  Well the topic at hand was about healthy eating and the role of meat in the American diet.  Now I have been a vegetarian stalker since I was in high school.  I would really like to be a non-meat eater, but I have a real problem with protein, as in if I don't get enough of the stuff I get all kinds of mean. Mean is so not me, so I eat the protein. But I have always wanted to look into alternative sources beyond meat. I have since gifted myself a subscription to Vegetarian Times to learn more about meat-less eating.  My husband even agreed to have a meat free dinner every week. I learned that I really like black beans and, truth be told, I didn't think beans and I would ever get along, and I don't mean because of the gas.  Turns out I just didn't know how to make them.  I tried this really fast and tasty meat-less salad and I want to share it with you. 

Corn and Black Bean Salad:

1 can mexi-corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/3-1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp canola oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 chili powder
1/2 pepper
salt to taste

Mix the corn, black beans, red onion, cilantro, and tomato in a medium sized bowl.  In a smaller bowl whisk together the red wine vinegar, sugar, oil, spices, and salt.  Drizzle over the corn mixture and toss.  Taste and adjust salt if needed.  Chill for 30 minutes or more before serving.

If you have a favorite meat-less dish link to it in a comment for this post or send it to us in an email.  We would love to try it and post it up on the blog, with tons of fan fair and credit to you of course.  Hopefully we can get a couple of these tasty veggie or grain based recipes up each month.  Don't be shy, send main dishes, sides, appetizers, soups, and desserts.  I can't wait to try them!

Cooking with veg!
Kelly, the origami ninja

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