Joel’s Black Bean Confetti Salad

This healthy salad goes well with an outdoor barbecue or a formal dinner. It is served cold and has black beans, multicolored bell peppers, red onions, and yellow corn in fat-free lime vinaigrette. A generous one cup serving has 97.63 calories, 5.86 g protein, 20.19 g carbohydrates, 4.75 g fiber, .32 g fat, and 81.82 mg sodium.

Ingredients

1 cup dried black beans
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 medium red onion, diced (I have used half red and half Vidalia onion)
1 large bell pepper’s worth of green, red, and orange peppers, diced
1 cup corn kernels (I undercook frozen corn, chill and add to salad)
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 lime, juiced
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
White pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste

Rinse and clean the beans in a colander with cold water. Cover the beans with cold water and soak overnight or at least 4 hours. Drain, rinse, and return the beans to a pot with bay leaf, ground black pepper, cumin, coriander, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Add 8 cups of water and bring to a boil, simmer until the beans are tender but not falling apart, about 1-1 1/2 hours.

Drain the beans, remove the garlic and bay leaf, and rinse under cold water until chilled. In a large bowl, add the onion, peppers, and corn, to the black beans. Spray lightly with olive oil spray and toss gently. Add the lime juice and seasonings and mix again. Refrigerate before serving to allow the flavors to blend, at least 30-60 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings before serving. This recipe makes six generous one cup servings or 8 three-quarter cup servings.

Here is my recap for yesterday.

Daily Dietary Recap-5/5/2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1281.83	90.16 g	166.4 g	939.37 mg	21.92 g	15.39%