Black bean salad

One of the reasons I started writing this blog was as a way to pass recipes and family anecdotes to my three kids. Especially at holidays, they would ask me how to make certain dishes that we always had when they lived at home. So I started posting recipes and stories for them. Then, of course, I just kept going with whatever recipe I was interested in at the moment, and little bits of my life. Initially I tried to keep the commentary focused on food, but that's not always the case. Now, the recipe thing seems to have come full circle, and my kids are starting to send recipes to me! Recently I received a recipe for black bean salad from my oldest son. He said he made it twice in one week at the request of his wife because she liked it so much.

Today, my youngest son, a college student who is home for the summer, was complaining that there was nothing in the house to eat. This was not 100% true from my perspective - I found things to eat - but from his perspective the cupboard was bare. Hmmm. I needed a banana for another recipe. I was thinking it would be very handy for him to walk down to Trader Joe's for black beans and a banana, make the salad for his early dinner before he had to leave for work, and have enough salad left for our dinner. And a blog post, too. "So," I said. "Look at this black bean salad recipe your brother sent. We have all the ingredients except for the beans. Why don't you go get the beans and make it. Oh, and could you also please get a ripe banana?" So he did.

Black bean salad

2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained well

2 carrots, diced or shredded

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, squeezed through press, or minced

1 cup of frozen sweet corn, thawed

1 avocado, chopped

2 teaspoons of whole cumin seeds, toasted for 5-7 minutes in skillet

1 cup of chopped fresh herbs (eg. basil, parsley, chives, cilantro)

1 tomato, chopped (From the garden! Yay)

olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes

juice of 2 limes or lemons

Mix everything to make a salad. Makes about six servings. (We used basil for the fresh herbs.)