Black Bean Confetti Salad

Let me share with you what I’ve been eating for three straight days: this Black Bean Confetti Salad.

I mentioned yesterday that I got to spend some much-needed time with my family on Sunday. I concocted this deliciously colorful mess to take with because the only day I will ever in my life show up empty-handed is my birthday (and even then it’s a good solid possibility that I’ll tote along wine or something). I think that’s a good grown-up rule we should all adhere to.

Can we talk about grown-up rules for just a sec? Because after lolling on the sofa with my mom and my sisters and talking about pretty much everything in the whole world other day, we all came to the conclusion that basic human decency has gone straight out the window.

Example A: My sister is jogging in the morning. My sister passes the only other jogger that’s up as early as she, so she quietly says, “Good Morning,” as she runs by. The other person COMPLETELY ignores my sister- like doesn’t even glance in her direction and they are the only two people on the whole entire street. Rude.

Example B: You (and by you I mean my sister) are at work. You are walking down the hallway. You pass someone you don’t really know on a super-personal level, but you’ve seen them. You smile as you pass by and say, “Hey.” Not like all crazy with flailing arms kind of enthusiastically. Just a regular polite greeting. The person you pass pretends you aren’t there. Rude.

Example C: I am grocery shopping. The cashier starts to scan all the mess I’ve tried to neatly assemble on the little grocery store conveyor thing. I move over to the little spot set up for the customer that’s paying and one of two things inevitably ALWAYS happens to me. Either the cashier scans all my stuff and doesn’t utter a word to me – not, “Hey,” or , “How ya doing,” or anything –  OR while I’m trying to swipe my card and enter my pin number the person behind me in line starts to crowd me. Ummmmm… can we talk about personal space, please? Thanks.

Oh, and while we are on that subject– can we all just refrain from jumping in line, please? They teach you not to do that crap when you’re like 4 or something. All of us are busy and have places to be, contrary to your belief that your schedule is the most important thing.

Example D: You shoot a quick message to a friend you’ve had for forever. Nothing high-maintenance, because like I said before, all of us know what it is to be busy. You never had a squabble or a disagreement, or anything, and they just plain old ignore you. This has actually recently happened to my mom, one of my sisters, and me. I am of the opinion that that’s not all that friendly.

So my grown-up rules of human decency include doing none of the above things.

If we are friends (and of course we are), I will always find a minute to respond. If you are a stranger, I will return your greeting, even if it’s only a smile or a half-hearted wave. If you are ringing up my groceries or taking my order at the drive-thru I am gonna ask how you are doing. I don’t want to hear all the details of your life that will make me think of good ‘ol Maury. I’m just being polite. I hope you’ll do the same. This also applies to servers in restaurants. When you greet me, I will never ever respond by telling you what I want to drink. Because that is rudeness to infinity. If you invite me to your house, I’m gonna bring something!

And I will never ever jump in line (though, if I’m being totally real here it’s entirely possible that I will cut you off in traffic… I’ll use my turn signal. Sorry.).

If you are trying to follow these few rules about grown-up things, and let’s say you have someplace to be but you have no idea what to bring, black bean confetti salad is the answer! Yeah.

Or wine. Wine works. And hey– before I forget — this bean salad is completely awesome with tortilla chips. Crazy good. So if you’re bringing things, you could bring those, too.

Have you noticed people totally forfeiting all the rules of being plain old polite and friendly? Or is this a Carolina thing?

Black Bean Confetti Salad

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

Author: Sugar Dish Me

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked black beans (2/ 15 ounce cans, drained and rinsed)
• 1 cup red onion, very finely chopped
• 1 cup whole kernel corn (I used frozen, thawed)
• ⅓ cup green bell pepper, very finely chopped
• ⅓ cup red bell pepper, very finely chopped
• ⅓ cup chopped cilantro
• 2 jalapeno peppers, very finely chopped (hot peppers are optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ cup red wine vinegar
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. In a large bowl toss together the black beans, red onion, corn kernels, red and green bell peppers, cilantro, jalapeno peppers, and garlic.
2. Squeeze the lime juice over the beans and vegetables and then give them a quick stir. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup combine the cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
4. Using a small whisk or a fork, stir the red wine vinegar with the spices. Continue whisking while adding in the olive oil. When the oil and vinegar has combined, pour the dressing over the beans and vegetables.
5. Toss the salad to coat and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

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