Black Bean and Corn Salad July 23, 2020 10:52

We use our Cuban Black Bean soup mix for the black beans in this salad as well as sheet pan nachos and still have enough for soup for 2 - 4 people.

Why use this instead of a can of beans? Flavor and nutritional value. Canned beans are processed for a long period of time at high heat and are often loaded with sodium to make up for the loss of flavor due to processing time and heat. Cooked dry beans are so much more flavorful and freeze beautifully so you can cook more than you need at one sitting and use the leftovers for multiple dishes.

Ingredients:

1 Healthy Gourmet Kitchen Cuban Black Bean Soup mix

6 cups water

1 ear fresh corn on the cob per person, husks removed

Lettuce of choice, washed and spun dry

Fresh cilantro, washed and roughly chopped

1 red bell pepper, washed seeded and diced

Avocado (optional)

For Dressing

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper if desired

1 clove garlic crushed

Directions

Mix ingredients for salad dressing and set aside or optionally use your favorite dressing. Use 2 tablespoons dressing per salad or person.

Open soup mix, pour topping into pot that you're going to cook beans in. Remove bean packet from soup mix, rinse then add to pot along with 6 cups of water and spice bag from soup mix. 

    Instant pot: Cover, close vent and pressure cook 30 minutes. Natural release 15 minutes then open.

    Slow Cooker: Cook on low 8 - 10 hours.

    Stove top: bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, partially cover and cook 2 - 2/12 hours or until beans are tender. 

Once beans are cooked do not drain bean broth, it's delicious! Refrigerate leftover beans for up to 5 days or freeze.

For each salad use 1/2 cup of drained beans (you can drain the broth back into the rest of the beans you will store for later use).

To remove corn kernels from cob: set ear of corn on it's end and hold onto the top. Use a kitchen knife and with a slow stroke downwards cut the kernels off. Alternately you can use a bundt cake pan, set the ear in the center hole instead of on a plate. 

If you're feeling fancy chill your plates before creating your salad. Place lettuce on plate. Top with 1/2 cup drained beans, kernels from 1 ear of corn, some diced red bell pepper, chopped cilantro and avocado if using. Top with 2 tablespoons dressing and enjoy!