Recipe: Crunchy Mexican Bean Salad

With the heat and humidity in full-swing here in Tonga, it's the perfect time to try out some new salads.

I must confess that I love salads...but only when somebody else makes them!! For some reason, my own salads just don't seem to taste that good to me :-(  and my attempts at making my own salad dressings have been, well....interesting, shall we say?!

When I tried making this Bean Salad recently, it was the first time I actually enjoyed eating my own salad and the dressing tasted like....salad dressing. Hurrah! Success at last!

This recipe makes a large salad with plenty of leftovers.

So, without further ado:

Crunchy Mexican Bean Salad

1 can of mixed beans OR 1 cup of dry beans, soaked overnight, then rinsed and boiled in water for 1 hour or until almost soft (not TOO soft, otherwise they turn into mush!) I used our "Mixed Salad Beans"

1 can corn kernels (Not easy to find in Tonga. The creamed variety may work, but I haven't tried it.)

1 carrot, finely diced

1 capsicum, finely diced

2 cups cooked rice

1 small bunch of spring onions

DRESSING

1/3 cup olive oil

5 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp lemon juice

½ tsp cayenne pepper (Or adjust to taste, I added more...)

½ garlic clove, finely grated/minced

Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Mix together all the salad ingredients.

In a separate bowl, mix together all the dressing ingredients and whisk together with a fork. Or you can place them all into an empty glass jar, put the lid on and shake until well mixed. Drizzle over the top of salad and stir through.

This tastes even better if you leave in the fridge for an hour before serving, which allows the flavor to deepen.