Black Bean Salad

Way back in 1997, when we had a subscription to Bon Appétit, we found a great recipe for a Caribbean Black Bean and Rice Salad by the unfailing duo, Jinx and Jefferson Morgan. That was a great recipe, and we enjoyed making it for years.

Fast forward to 2005. We were in Stong's when we saw a black bean salad that looked appetizing. We took it home and loved it so much, we knew we had to reverse engineer the recipe from the ingredient list.

As much as we liked the black bean and rice salad, we thought it would be healthier to replace the white rice with brown rice, or leave it out altogether.

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1-2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Whisk the above ingredients in a small bowl.

• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 orange or yellow pepper, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 3-4 cups cooked black beans (two cans), drained and rinsed

Combine the vegetables and beans in a large bowl. Stir in the dressing well. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, preferably overnight.