Black Bean Salad

Last week we made a divine black bean salad from Pinterest. We wanted to make it again this week, but with some adaptations. This time around we messed with some of the portion sizes (less beans, different corn, way less sugar and less olive oil) and added quinoa. I even cut up the orange bell pepper for this weeks variation AND we used our first homegrown tiny green pepper! The pictures below do not show the salad in its completion, because it does need an avocado to go along with it. What Will and I have been doing is splitting an avocado in half each day we eat this and each taking a half in our lunch. It cuts down the costs of the avocados (currently on sale at Earthfare for a bag of three) and its helps keep the avocado green by cutting it up each day! This salad feels fresh everyday and its smell is intoxicating from the second you open the container you brought it in. We highly recommend it because a little bit can be filling due to the avocado and we're expecting that to increase with the addition of quinoa as well.

We've been making quinoa or couscous salads for lunches recently because they typically use fresh ingredients and don't require bread. They always are flavorful, filling, and bright, so I'll try to continue to blog about them as well!

Black Bean Salad with Corn, Red Peppers, Avocado, and Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette (adapted from Once Upon a Chef; serves 8)
2 15-oz cans of black beans 
3 ears fresh cooked corn, kernels cut off the cob
2 red bell peppers, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsps minced shallot, from one medium shallot
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp sugar (we thought this was WAY too much)
9 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (again, way too much...we're attempting it with 4 tbsp this week)
1 tsp fresh lime zest
6 tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
avocados!
*we added 1 cup quinoa to the recipe the second time we made it

Combine everything except the avocados in a bowl, mixing well. Store for a few hours or overnight to allow flavors to set. Add avocado right before eating. Guaranteed to make office mates jealous!

Recipe: Once Upon a Chef: Black Bean Salad

Our first green pepper in comparison to a normal sized pepper!

All the ingredients getting prepped.

Playing with my peppers :)

Final product pre-quinoa: gorgeous colors!