Black Bean and Roasted Corn Side (Mango Balsamic, Chili Cilantro Olive Oil)

Side Dish Club recipes were designed to be produced by weight in grams so that nutrition information could be calculated so you will need a scale to replicate them.

Each recipe produces four servings for a side dish next to a main dish. This size is 115 grams or about 4 ounces (1/4 lb) in weight and about 3/4 cup in volume. For a full meal, you would double the serving size, and this recipe would produce two.

This recipe is inspired by fresh sweet summer corn and the high nutrition content of beans.

What you will need:

• 1 can of low or no salt black beans

• 1 can of low or no salt garbanzo beans

• 2 medium sized ears of sweet white corn

• 1 medium sized ripe avocado

• 1 medium sized red bell pepper

• red onion (you will only need a few slices)

• a few handfuls of fresh cilantro

• cotijo cheese

• mango balsamic vinegar

• chili cilantro olive oil

• extra virgin olive oil

• kosher salt

• Optional, a little fresh lemon or lime juice to squeeze over the avocado

Roast your veggies:

Shuck your corn and slice the kernals off of the husk. Toss them in olive oil and a few pinches of kosher salt until well coated. Spread them out onto a large cookie sheet.

Cut your bell pepper in 1/2 and remove the seeds. Brush with olive oil. Place on a baking sheet skin side up.

Roast the bell pepper and corn in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

• The corn should be golden or light brown around the edges and fork tender. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

• The bell pepper skin should start too look blackened with bubbles forming. Remove from the oven and place into a sealed container so it will continue to steam allowing for easy removal of the skin after it cools. Once it is cooled, the skin should peel off easily.

Drain and rinse your beans.

Empty your each of your beans separately into a colander and rinse until the water runs clear. Set them aside in dfferent bowls.

Note that I peal the skin off of the garbanzo beans. This is not required, but will produce a nicer looking and more tender salad as the skin will start to come off anyway when you stir them into the salad and be a bit tough to chew.

Wash and dry the cilantro.

I always thoroughly wash my garden ingredients before using them. I create a vinegar wash (about 1 cup of white vinegar to a gallon of water) and place the garden ingredients into the vinegar wash for about 5 minutes before rinsing. This is just “me” as I worry about germs on fresh veggies. But the vinegar wash is certainly optional.

Regardless of how you wash, you want to always thoroughly dry ingredients before using them. Any water on them will water down your dressing and also your dish. I usually just wash and set stuff out to dry, but if you are in a rush, you can put use a fan set on low to blow are over them and accelerate drying.

Prepare and measure your ingredients.

For measuring I suggest the following:

• Set your scale on the counter and turn it on.

• Make sure it is set to grams.

• Set a large bowl on the side to hold all of your measured ingredients.

• Set a smaller container on the scale to collect your individual ingredients

• Tare out the scale to remove the weight of the container on the scale.

Next …

• Black Beans: Measure out 116 grams of black beans into the bowl on the scale and then place into the larger bowl. Replace the empty bowl onto the scale and re-tare so the scale shows zero.

• Garbanzo Beans: Measure out 80 grams of garbanzo beans into the bowl on the scale and then place into the larger bowl. Replace the empty bowl onto the scale and re-tare so the scale shows zero.

• Roasted Corn: Measure out 72 grams of roasted corn into the bowl on the scale and then place into the larger bowl. Replace the empty bowl onto the scale and re-tare so the scale shows zero.

• Roasted Red Bell Pepper: Dice the peeled roasted red bell pepper. Measure out 34 grams of roasted bell pepper into the bowl on the scale and then place into the larger bowl. Replace the empty bowl onto the scale and re-tare so the scale shows zero.

• Red Onion: Very finely dice red onion and place into the bowl on the scale until you have 13 grams and then place into the larger bowl. Replace the empty bowl onto the scale and re-tare so the scale shows zero.

• Cilantro: Remove most of the stem from you cilantro. Lightly chop the cilantro and place into the bowl on the scale until you have 5 grams and then place into the larger bowl. Replace the empty bowl onto the scale and re-tare so the scale shows zero.

• Avocado: Peel and dice your avocado. My favorite method is to halve the avocado by cutting around the seed along the long side and twisting the two sides until they come apart. I start with the side that does not have a seed in case I only use half of the avocado. Rumor has it that if you leave the seed in the half you do not use and wrap it tightly in sara wrap, it will keep well for a day or two. I then take the half without the seed and cut it again to make a quarter. I find that the peel will come righ off this size when I am working with a correctly ripened avocado. Dice the avocado and place into the bowl on the scale until you have 62 grams. If you need more avocado, remove the seed from the other half by putting a knife into it with a chopping gesture and then twisting the knife. Do not place the avocado into the other bowl, but set it aside as it will be added last. If you want to make sure it does not brown, squeeze a little lemon or lime juice over the top.

Make your dressing.

• Place a medium size mixing bowl on the scale.

• Pour in 29 grams of mango balsamic vinegar.

• Pour in 13 grams of Chili Cilantro Oil.

• (Note that I tend to go light on dressing. Many side dish customers wanted a little more dressing and for them I would add extra on the side. For the dressing rich flavor increase the amount by 50%, i.e. abou 43 grams of mango balsamic and about 19 grams of chili cilantro olive oil. Just note that this will affect the nutrition information.)

• Remove bowl from scale and whisk using a wire whisk briskly until ingredients are fully emulsified, i.e. thick, creamy, and not separating.

Add dressing to your ingredients.

Pour the dressing into the bowl with all of your ingredients. I like to use a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl so I don’t lose any! Then I use the spatula to sort of toss the ingredients while scraping the sides until everything is nicely mixed.

Top with cheese and avocado to serve.

I like to just place the avocado on top of the dish when serving. I don’t mix it in so it does not get all mashed up. Then I sprinkle the cotija cheese over the top, about 20-25 grams of cheese per serving.

Nutrition Info.