Ebony And Ivory, Black Bean and White Corn Salad.

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Ebony And Ivory, Black Bean and White Corn Salad.

I love simple salads that take just a minute or two to make out of fresh ingredients, satisfy everybody and cost peanuts. I especially love them when the fresh collard greens I went looking for at the farm turned out to not be in season and I was stuck for a fast, cheap and easy side dish. So this is going to be as quick a post as this dish is to make. All it requires is black beans, fresh corn and roasted red peppers. I've been making this recipe for close to 20 years. It originally started out as a cold Angel Hair pasta salad I used to serve at barbecues and bring to pot lucks. People liked it and the recipe spread around Santa Monica and West LA. This is a modified version sans pasta.

Bean And Corn Summer Salad

Here's what to do:

In a large bowl mix together 2 cups of cooked black beans. (If you don't have cooked fresh black beans canned will do. Just rinse them well until the water runs clear).

Husk and wash 3 ears of white corn. Scrape the kernels off the corn into a separate bowl. In a pinch, frozen corn will do, but try, try, try to get fresh.

Roast and peel 1 red pepper, or for extra-fast fixing, open a jar of any roasted red peppers. (I always use peppers made by my morning coffee buddy Ron Mezzetta). Chop the peppers into small bites.

Mix the peppers into the black beans.

In a skillet heat about 2 Tbs of olive oil

When the olive oil is hot, toss in the corn kernels and saute them lightly until they soften.

Mix the sauteed corn with the beans and peppers.

• In a small bowl mix together
• 3 Tbs of sherry vinegar
• 6 Tbs of olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Add a bit of lime juice

Whisk it well and pour it over the salad. Toss everything together well, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Just before serving mix in some chopped fresh cilantro.

And there it is, from shelf or freezer to table in about a half hour. Who says stuff has to be complicated? Coming up next bottle gourd, the zucchini on steroids. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori