All-week-long Black Bean Salad & free Newman's Own coupon

My mixing helper with our Black Bean Salad

I love recipes that I can make once and re-use throughout the week over and over again without getting tired of it. This black bean salad is one of those recipes that the whole family loves. I pick out some black beans and mash them for Ben, and Linc eats it as is with any meal. This week, I used /will use this salad as 1.) a side salad for dinner (Baja Lime Tilapia, Black Bean Salad and Green Rice), 2.) as a relish/salsa dip with tortillas for snacking throughout the day, 3.) as part of my Grilled Peaches Southwest Chicken Salad, and 4.) on huevos rancheros this weekend. Yes, that's a heck of a lot of black beans and but they're so lean, tasty (in this recipe anyway) and CHEAP! And it's versatile. If I don't have tomatoes on hand, I'll leave them out. If I'm in the mood to add red peppers, I throw them in. Make the recipe your own. I have. :-) I'll post my (most recent) version of the salad recipe below and then post the above recipes (fish, chicken and eggs) in coming posts.

*For a quick, easy dressing, I like to use Newman's Own Light Lime Vinaigrette (click here for the coupon). It does make the salad a little more wet and you'll get better flavor from squeezing in 1-2 small limes (or even substitute 3-4 Tb of red wine vinegar if you don't have limes on hand) and adding a little canola oil (don't use EVOO as it congeals in the fridge), salt, pepper and sugar to taste. But if you want quick and easy--and light!--that N.O. dressing is fantastic. And you can use it on the chicken salad later too.

All-week-long Black Bean Salad
2-15.5 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced finely
3 hothouse tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed or chopped finely
1/2 cup diced purple onion
5 TB fresh chopped cilantro
1 cup N.O. Light Lime Vinaigrette
salt and fresh ground black pepper

Toss in a bowl; mix gently. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Chill before serving.