Healthy Summer Sides
Black Bean Salad
This is adapted from a college friend’s recipe and has become a staple at all my summer cookouts. This is another recipe that can easily be tweaked to your preferences and what you have on hand. Try with different beans, different color peppers, add a jalapeño, add tomatoes. The quantities below will serve a larger group so adjust as necessary depending on the size of your crowd… or your appetite.
Ingredients –
4 cans of black beans
4 ears of cooked corn (can also use frozen corn kernels)
2 red peppers
2 green peppers
1 large red onion
2 avocados
4-6 limes
Cilantro
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Directions -
Drain and rinse the beans.
Cut kernels off corn.
Chop peppers, red onion, and cilantro.
Juice limes and mix with olive oil and salt and pepper.
Cube avocado.
Combine everything except avocado into a large bowl and mix well.
Add avocado on top.
Serve with your favorite chips as a dip or as a side to your favorite summer dish.
Quinoa Salad
This is one of my favorite things to make for lunch - it is easy and healthy and can easily be adapted to whatever you have on hand. It also stores very well in the refrigerator so you can make a large batch and keep it for a few days. Feta makes a nice addition if you eat dairy.
Ingredients
Quinoa
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Red Onion
Chickpeas
Parsley
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Directions
Cook quinoa according to package directions and set aside
Rinse and drain chickpeas and set aside
Chop cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, and parsley
Add chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, and parsley to quinoa
Mix it all with olive oil and salt and pepper
