Black Bean and Corn Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

Hello everyone,  I have a wonderful recipe to share with you that I prepared just the other night.   It is so simple and quick to make.  Now I always recommend when you can to use the regular beans and soak them like the recipe shows but we don't always have the time to do things this way.  So, I used a can of organic black beans, rinsed them and used them in the recipe which cut the time to cook by more than an hour and a half and cut the preparation time as well.

The reason it is recommended whole food and not canned is that canned foods have added sodium as a preservative and to much sodium is not a good thing.  So, if you have had your share of sodium for the day (eating out or processed foods) I would not recommend you use canned anything if at all possible.

So, if you are using whole beans not canned the following would apply.

Whole beans:
Soaking the beans overnight releases the gases from the beans that can cause problems with digesting beans.  You don't want to salt your beans in the beginning of the cooking process.  Salt causes the beans to contract and close up and it will take longer for your beans to cook.  Add salt when your beans are about 3/4 of the way done.  Discard soaking water from beans.  Add beans, bay leaves and 3 cups fresh water to a pot.  Bring to a boil.  Skim off any foam that rises and discard.  Lower flame, cover and simmer for one hour.  Add sea salt and continue cooking for 30 minutes or until beans are soft.   

 Canned beans:
Now, I did not use the bay leaves for the canned version since they are already cooked.  However, you can experiment and add them and heat the beans on the stove for the added flavor.  Just move on to the next step in the recipe which is preparing in a bowl.

In a bowl:
Mix corn, red onion, red pepper, cilantro and cooked beans in a bowl.  Whisk lime juice, red wine vinegar, sweetener (of your choice preferably not white table sugar which is bleached, I used fructose available at any local grocer) olive oil, cumin, black pepper and sea salt.  Pour dressing on top of beans and veggies and marinate 35-40 minutes (or longer).  Marinating outside the refrigerator is recommended because the cold temperature slows down everything and it will require longer to marinate.
Serves four. 

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Well there you have it.  Hope you enjoy this recipe and be sure to visit my health coach site for more recipes and wonderful information.  Be sure to download your free copy of "Integrative Nutrition Feed Your Hunger for Health and Happiness".  

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This wonderful recipe was provided by IIN Healthy Cooking CD with Andrea Beaman, national recognized food expert, featured chef on Bravo TV's "Top Chef", and 1999 graduate of our school


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