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Recipe for corn and black bean salad with sweet lime dressing {vegan, gluten-free}

Black bean and corn salad (The Perfect Pantry). #vegan #glutenfree

Here in New England, corn season lasts for six weeks, and these middle-of-March weeks are not the weeks for fresh corn. Don't let that stop you from enjoying this gorgeous vegan and gluten-free side salad. Buy frozen organic corn kernels or frozen fire-roasted corn (if you're lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's market nearby). Combine the corn with canned or cooked black beans; I'm using my new pressure cooker to make large batches of beans, so I always have some on hand. Add a squirt of lime for a bright, fresh flavor. You'll forget that it's winter. When corn season arrives, make this salad with fresh corn kernels and bell pepper from your garden, and it will be that much better. Serve it with salmon (oh, the colors!) or roast chicken.

Black bean and corn salad with sweet lime dressing (#vegan #glutenfree).

Corn and black bean salad with sweet lime dressing

From the pantry, you'll need: black beans (canned or dried), agave nectar, lime, canola oil (or other neutral oil), kosher salt, fresh black pepper.

Serves 3-4; can be multiplied.

Ingredients

For the dressing:
1 tsp agave nectar
Juice of 1/2 lime
1-1/2 tsp canola oil (or rice bran or vegetable oil)
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper to taste

For the salad:
1 cup cooked black beans (if using canned beans, drain and rinse)
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1 scallion, finely chopped

Directions

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.

Add the beans to the bowl, and toss gently.

If the corn is frozen, place it in a microwave-safe bowl and cook, covered, for 1-1/2 minutes. Or, blanch quickly in a pot of boiling water. (Fresh corn kernels don't need to be cooked for this salad.)

Add the cooked corn to the beans, along with the green pepper and scallion. Toss everything together so the dressing coats all of the vegetables, but the beans don't get smashed and fall apart.

Let the salad sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, or make ahead and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Serve at room temperature or chilled.

[Printer-friendy recipe.]


More beans and corn together:
Smoky turkey, black bean and corn chili
Corn, bean and two tomato salad
Vegan spicy pinto bean chili with corn and kale
Pueblo vegetable stew

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Quinoa with black beans, corn and chipotle pepper, from Cookin' Canuck
Quinoa salad with black beans, corn and tomatoes, from Simply Recipes
Black bean and pepper salad with cilantro and lime, from Kalyn's Kitchen
Black bean hummus with lime and cumin, from Simple Bites
Chipotle lime tacos with corn and black bean salsa, from My Baking Addiction

Need some new ideas to turn your same-old salad into exciting salad? Get Dress Up Your Salad, my e-book packed with easy mix-and-match recipes, full-color photos and a few fun videos. Fantastic salad recipes can be just one click away, on any computer, tablet or smart phone, with the FREE Kindle Reading app. Click here to learn more.

Corn and black bean salad: make it any time of year! From The Perfect Pantry. #vegan #glutenfree


Disclosure: The Perfect Pantry earns a few pennies on purchases made through the Amazon.com links in this post. Thank you for supporting this site when you start your shopping here.

Comments

I'm not eating much corn these days, so I am imagining what else I could sub for the corn because I love everything else about this salad.

Kalyn, you could substitute other vegetables, like zucchini, tomatoes or cucumber. Or you could add in a bit of cubed chicken or shrimp. This salad is very accommodating!

A splash of lime can really brighten up the day. The sun is kind of shining, and I'm inspired to make this today! Might even throw in a little avocado.

TW, Ole! Avocado would be a perfect addition.

Oh, this looks great, Lydia! Thanks. :-)

Shirley, enjoy!

I like this recipe! In Hawaii we have a 365 day growing cycle so there is fresh sweet corn on the cob all year long. It just takes a walk down the street to a local farmers market for fresh organic grown.

Ken, I am officially green with envy! Here in Rhode Island, we still have snow cover (8 inches or snow) over all of the lawn and garden. Fresh corn is just a dream right now.

Lydia, it was 80F degrees and sunny today. April is the start of our summer which ends in October when winter starts. We get 4 growing cycles a year out of sweet corn; a lot different than back in Rhode Island with 1 growing cycle. The James Beard award winning “Hawaii Regional Cuisine” movement is 21 years old. It is based on using only what is grown regionally in Hawaii and replacing the ingredients in standard non-Hawaiian structured ethnic (36 embassies and consulates in Honolulu) cuisine recipes. All of the state-wide organic food producers have totally bought in and are supplying farm to table to all the restaurants, supermarkets and grocery stores throughout Hawaii. Hawaii is the only state growing commercial crops of coffee, tea, cocoa (chocolate), vanilla bean, cinnamon and macadamia nuts. I’m finding for me it is about $15,500 a year cheaper living in Honolulu than back in Woonsocket.

Lydia,
I've still got a stash of corn in the freezer, put up from both our farm share and a mess of ears I picked up at a farm stand in Delaware on vacation. Why so much? For the past couple of summers I've had kids in braces, so all my corn *on* cob eating was done, surreptitiously, in the kitchen. By this summer both kids will be done with braces, and I predict I'll have to buy bags of frozen corn next winter. Which is just fine by me--there's something about corn on the cob in the summer.
This salad? Looks wonderful, and the sweet dressing sounds delicious. Thanks!

Kirsten, I had to give up corn on the cob years ago when I chipped a tooth, so I've always got bags of corn kernels in the freezer. Your kids have earned the right to gnaw on corn cobs if they've survived braces!

I do miss summer corn and love tossing it into salsas and salads like this one Lydia. I have pan roasted frozen corn and it comes out great.

Jeanette, there is nothing to compare with summer corn!

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