Black bean and corn salad
Hearty black beans, sweet corn, peppers and cilantro in a zesty lime cumin dressing with salty cotija, a no-cook lunch that costs next to nothing.
- 15 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.01 a serving
- 530 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 15 minutes.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 3 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can canned corn, drained
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
- 2 limes, juiced
- ½ cup cotija cheese, crumbled
- 1 avocado, diced (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ¾ tsp salt
Each serving has about 530 calories, 25 g protein, 75 g carbs and 16 g fat, and costs about $2.01 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No black beans? Pinto beans or kidney beans work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No red onions? White onions or yellow onions work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No avocados? Guacamole works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
and the beans and drain the corn, then shake them dry in a colander.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
the pepper, the onion and jalapeño, and chop the cilantro.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
In a big bowl, the lime juice, oil, cumin, chili powder and salt.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Add the beans, corn and vegetables and . Taste and add more lime or salt until it tastes zingy.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
the cotija over the top and add the avocado just before eating.
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Dolly’s tip: It keeps 4 days in the fridge and gets better as it sits. Add avocado the day you eat it so it stays green.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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30-minute dinners ›Vegetarian dinners ›What to make with black beans and avocados ›What to make with black beans and corn ›What to make with corn and bell peppers ›