Black Bean, Corn, and Tomato Salad with Feta Cheese
I tasted many salads with similar ingredients, but all seemed very bland, so I developed this myself. It is dressed with a lime vinaigrette and has lots of crunch and flavor with a little jalapeno pop. It's wonderful to make in summer with fresh ingredients from the garden or farmer's market. This is great with BBQs or for potlucks. My husband likes it best with fish tacos.
I tasted many salads with similar ingredients, but all seemed very bland, so I developed this myself. It is dressed with a lime vinaigrette and has lots of crunch and flavor with a little jalapeno pop. It's wonderful to make in summer with fresh ingredients from the garden or farmer's market. This is great with BBQs or for potlucks. My husband likes it best with fish tacos.
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 large green bell pepper chopped
- 1 (14 ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 fresh tomatoes chopped
- 1 cup fresh sweet white corn cut from the cob
- 1 bunch green onions sliced
- 1 jicama, peeled and minced
- 1 fresh jalapeno pepper minced
- 1 (8 ounce) package crumbled feta cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
- Carbohydrate 2.49445937560852 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 6.83838282110586 g
- Fiber 0.697437498519234 g
- Protein 0.473059375030354 g
- Saturated Fat 0.950090001188176 g
- Serving Size 1 1 cup (47g)
- Sodium 591.233437500317 mg
- Sugar 1.79702187708928 g
- Trans Fat 0.20164578148515 g
- Calories 70 calories
Step-by-step
- Place the beans, tomato, bell pepper, corn, onion, jicama, jalapeno pepper, and feta cheese in a large salad bowl.
- Mash the garlic and salt together with a mortar and pestle. Whisk together the mashed garlic, lime juice, mustard, and pepper in a small bowl. Add the oil in a slow, steady stream while whisking. Continue whisking until smooth. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Chill overnight.
A raw ingredient list cannot convey how crucial a mortar and pestle is for emulsifying the dressing; mashing the garlic clove with coarse sea salt breaks the cellular walls completely, releasing pungent allicin oils that blend smoothly with the lime juice and mustard instead of separating into harsh, raw garlic pools. While the recipe calls for fresh sweet white corn cut straight from the cob, canned corn drained thoroughly can substitute in winter at a one-to-one ratio, though the starch content will alter the crisp texture. Chilling the mixture overnight allows the fibrous jicama and bell pepper to absorb the acidity without losing their structural crunch, transforming distinct components into a cohesive dish.
Pairing Strategy and Meal Dynamics
Serving this vibrant dish alongside charred proteins creates an effective temperature and flavor contrast. The high fat content in grilled sausages or pan-seared skirt steak cuts through the sharp lime acidity and salty feta cheese. Alternatively, spooning the mixture over warm fish tacos adds a bright, acidic counterweight to heavily spiced, fatty fish like mackerel or bluefish.
- If the dressing separates after whisking, add one teaspoon of lukewarm water and whisk vigorously to rebuild the emulsion.
- Dice the jicama into pieces no larger than the black beans to ensure every spoonful contains uniform crunch.
- Drain the canned black beans through a fine-mesh strainer and rinse them under cold running water until the starchy canning liquid disappears entirely.
