bean salad

Contrary to what you might think, I actually cook simple meals more often than not. Tonight's dinner - a warm black bean salad with half an avocado. The key here is that this is an extremely flexible dish. Missing an ingredient? No lime? Use vinegar. Don't like peppers, use cucumbers. Think beans make you fart too much? Skip them altogether and make a veggie salad instead!

Tom's Black Bean Salad (Serves 4)

2 cans black beans, strained; or 250g dried black beans soaked overnight and cooked in boiling water for about two hours, or until soft
1/4 cup olive oil
2 shallots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 ears corn, kernels cut off
1 green bell pepper, small dice
1 serrano pepper, minced
3-4 tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup parsley and/or cilantro chopped
1 lime, juiced
1/2 tbls dijon mustard
Salt&pepper

Directions
Heat olive oil over medium heat and gently cook shallots, garlic, and serrano for 5 minutes
Add corn and bell pepper and continue cooking for 5 more minutes, then let cook 10 minutes
Mix all ingredients together, making sure to get all the oil out of the pan (salad dressing!)
Adjust seasoning and enjoy.