Fresh & Clean

Ok, first new post of 2012. A bit overdue but college students do have a lot to juggle. I've always been one to keep an active eye out for healthy recipes. And now that I've finally lost all my Germany weight, I'm not going back. One of my favorite ways to make a filling but light meal is making salads with a simple lemon or lime dressing.  The tang of these citruses brings enough flavor to satisfy and leaves me feeling really refreshed. Also I finally brought a microplane and it's amazing. I add zest to most recipes that call for citrus juice because its so much fun to use, plus extra flavor! Another new obsession of 2012 is pinnnnterest. Seems like everyone's on it these days, but that's where I picked up the inspiration for this southwestern salad; I made some minor adjustments based on what I had in my pantry.


Here's the recipe:
1 can red beans1 can sweet corn
1 tomato
1/4 red onion
1/2 red bell pepper
1/4 cup cilantro
1 avocado
2 lemons + zest
salt & pepper
cumin



1. open and rinse both cans. pour into medium mixing bowl.
2. chop the tomato, red onion, bell pepper and cilantro to roughly the same size of the beans ( you want everything to be uniform). add to bowl.
3. open, score and scoop of avocado. add to bowl. ( do this last so when you add the lemon juice it really gets a chance to cover the avocado and help stop the oxidation)
4. zest the lemons and add the juice.
5. add salt & pepper to taste as well as a dash of cumin.
6. gently combine all the ingredients so that everything is uniformly mixed.

Notes: The original recipe called for black beans, and lime instead of lemon. I'm sure that would taste delicious too. Also, I usually omit or drastically cut down on the the oil in dressings but you can always add some olive oil, if you feel like you need the extra body.

Verdict: freaking delicious. I popped a whole wheat tortilla in the toaster over with some cheddar inside to make a quick quesodilla to go with the salad. For next time, I'd imagined a tortilla spritzed with some oil and dusted with some salt, pepper, cumin or paprika and toasted up for home made tortilla chips would also be a very good accompaniment :)

<3 Jo