Black Bean Salad

This tasty and addictive black bean salad is fresh, colorful, and endlessly adaptable. It makes a great dip, salad, side dish, or taco topper.

I recently made pork tacos for dinner and decided to make an easy recipe for cowboy caviar to pair with the tacos. I had to adapt the plan because my store was out of black eyed peas so I changed the recipe in my mind and only used black beans for this batch along with corn, tomatoes, avocado, bell pepper, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno. The salad is tossed in a tangy homemade vinaigrette and the flavors meld really nicely together. This black bean salad was simple to throw together, was a big hit with my family, and tasted terrific with our tacos.

How to Make a Black Bean Salad

Make the vinaigrette by combining the oil, red wine vinegar, lime juice, garlic, sea salt, and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste, in a small glass jar. Seal with a lid and shake well; set aside to allow flavors time to mingle.

Make the salad by combining the black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado, bell pepper, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno together in a bowl.

Drizzle some well-whisked vinaigrette on the salad, to taste; toss to coat evenly. Season with a bit of sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, if needed. Cover and chill until serving time.