This is a quickly prepared salad with the flavors of summer that can be made any time of the year. It has a combination of the crunch of jicama, sweetness from red pepper, creaminess of the beans, tang from lime and spiciness from the barbeque and hot sauce.
I don’t put oil in mine because I don’t think it needs it, so why add the calories? But if you tend to like more dressing on your salads, add the same amount of olive or canola oil as lime-juice.
This salad serves 6 and takes about twenty minutes to prepare. It’s a great dish to prepare for a potluck.
Ingredients:
1 16 oz. Package frozen corn (plain or roasted)
1 Jimaca – get one with a hard, smooth skin and no sunken spots
1 Red Pepper
3 or 4 Scallions
1 15 oz can black or kidney beans
1 small bunch cilantro (to make 2 to 3 Tablespoons when leaves are removed from stem and chopped)
3 Limes (use 4 or 5 if they aren’t very juicy)
BBQ sauce of your choice (I love the original Mad Dog because it doesn’t have as much sugar in it as most do, and it’s got some heat. Note that the Chipolte style of Mad Dog is really spicy)
Sriracha sauce or other hot sauce to taste.
Ripe avocado slices to garnish
You could also use a fresh tomato hot sauce along with the barbeque sauce.
Bring some water in a sauce pan to a boil and add the frozen corn. Cook for about five minutes and then drain. If you’re in a hurry, run cold water over the corn to cool it.
Let the corn cool before adding it to the other ingredients.
While corn is cooking and draining, peel the jimaca and cut it into cubes, about ½” all around. Cut peppers into similar size pieces.
Chop the rest of the ingredients while the corn cooks.
Slice the scallions very thinly. If you don’t like raw onions, leave these out.
Remove leaves from cilantro stems and chop them coarsely.
Drain the beans and rinse briefly.
Put all the veggies and herbs into a bowl.
Add the barbeque sauce and hot sauce to the lime juice. Oil can also be added if you like a heavier salad dressing.
Squeeze the limes. Add a tablespoon or more barbeque sauce to the limes and hot sauce to taste. Mix this well and pour over the salad. Mix and adjust seasonings as desired, adding salt and pepper if needed.
This salad keeps well into the next day so you can take some to work the next day.
Of course this salad is even better if made with fresh sweet corn and garden-grown cilantro and peppers. It’s also a good dish to prepare if you have leftover corn on the cob.
Every Wednesday is for Foodies at Coffee For Roses! We spend the center of the week in the heart of the home to give you ideas for dishes that can be prepared any day of the week.
