BLACK BEAN SALAD with corn, peppers and avocados

     I am so proud of myself.  I've made my first real meal without a kitchen.  It shouldn't be that hard, but I've found it to be extremely frustrating; some of my kitchen equipment is in the basement, the refrigerator is in the living room, no running water on the first floor, and to get to the basement from the house, we need to go outdoors since the doorways we normally pass through to access the basement have been covered and nailed shut to reduce the clouds of demolition dust.

     This is a black bean salad that you often see in grocery store delis.  My family refers to it as black bean salsa, often using blue corn chips to scoop up the beans and vegetables.  I served this alongside grilled flank steaks with a chili paste rub, thinly-sliced and served in warmed flour tortillas; easy and delicious -- and, there were leftovers!

                                           Black Bean Salad 

• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 large clove garlic, crushed
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 3 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained well
• 1 16-ounce bag of frozen corn, defrosted and drained
• 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
• 1 large red bell pepper, finely diced
• 2 ripe avocados, cubed
• fresh cilantro
1.  Combine the vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl and set aside for an hour.
2.  In a large bowl combine the black beans, corn, red onion and the bell pepper.  Pour the vinegar and oil mixture over the beans and mix gently.  Adjust seasonings.  Right before you are ready to serve, fold in the avocados and cilantro.  Serve at room temperature.

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