Black Bean Salad with Corn and Tomatoes

Black Bean Salad with Corn and Tomatoes 

This black bean salad is so easy to put together, that it will take you under 15 minutes to create it.  If you have a pantry filled with canned beans, then this is the recipe for you!  If you have canned black beans, frozen corn, a few grape or cherry tomatoes in your fridge, and a red onion lying around, then you have to whip up this recipe.  I usually don't like food to go to waste, so I try my best to make use of what I have lying around the house, especially if I don't want to get in my car and drive to the grocery store.  This was perfect on a rainy afternoon that I preferred to stay in my home.  In place of frozen corn, you can use canned corn.  I just prefer frozen corn as there is less sodium and I usually always have a few organic frozen corn bags in my freezer.  

The best thing about this salad, aside from the health benefits, is the way the crispy corn blends with the softness of the black beans.  The tomatoes add a tart flavor and I prefer to use cherry tomatoes, but grape tomatoes would work fine as well.  When I prepared this dish yesterday, I only had grape tomatoes on hand.  I did a rough chop on my red onions but I would put them in a food processor to get an even finer chop on the red onions. This salad will taste better the smaller everything is chopped.  The tomatoes can be larger if you need them to be and would stand out better if they are a bit bigger but the onions should be chopped small.  

Black beans are very beneficial and have tons of health benefits.  Black beans are terrific for your heart as they are filled with heart-healthy nutrients such as fiber, potassium, folate, and vitamin B6.  Red onions contain anthocyanins that protect against diabetes and certain types of cancer.  

So grab your black beans and defrost your corn.

Grab 1/2 red onion and do a fine chop.  I used a full red onion but it was too much, so a half a large red onion will do.  Also, make sure you finely chop the red onion in a food processor.

Grab a cup of red cherry or grape tomatoes and cut in half.  Mix the black beans, corn, red onion, and tomatoes together and dress with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and you have yourself a delicious black bean salad!  

Ingredients:

2 15-ounce cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen or canned corn

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients in a medium size bowl and you have a delicious black bean salad to serve with chicken, beef, or shrimp!  You can also eat this without anything else!  It is delicious!

Enjoy!