I’m a Fritos kind of gal. It’s hard to go wrong with a salty, deep-fried corn chip, but there’s just something special about Fritos. I’ve loved them as long as I can remember. When I was younger, there was more than one time I polished off a whole bag of Fritos in one sitting. These days, though, aging dictates that I can no longer sit and plough through an entire bag unaccompanied. Something about heartburn, calories, moderation, setting a good example for my children, blah blah blah.
Now I use Fritos not as a stand-alone food group but rather a tasty, salty, crunchy eating implement. They hold up well to my favourite kind of dips; those full of vegetables, garlic, herbs and beans. This time of year, a vegetable/bean salsa is just about the perfect way to round out a meal. Heck, when it’s hot enough, a bowl of this IS a meal at our house. You don’t have to fire up the oven. It’s cool, flavourful, substantial but not heavy, and packed with nutrition. Don’t EVEN tell me the Fritos cancel that out because I will stick both fingers in my ears and ‘LAH-LAH-LAH’ until you get tired of trying to get past my incredible display of loyalty and stubborness regarding snack food.
I did tell you. I’m a Fritos girl.
But the dip -the salsa, if you will- is where it’s really at today. Sweet corn, black beans, crunchy red bell peppers, onions, garlic, lime, jalapeƱos and beaucoup cilantro are tossed together in a eye-catching salsa that can even stand alone as a salad. That’s right. I’m saying you can eat it *GASP* without the Fritos. It is that good. I still dip it up with chips, but I also serve with ribs (hint, hint… not so distant post), in tacos, over baked potatoes, or tossed in cooked and cooled grains for a nutritionally complete meal. Mix up a big batch of it on the weekend and eat from it over the next several days. Fritos are optional.
Maybe.
Corn and Black Bean Salsa
Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 pound frozen sweet corn thawed
- 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans drained and rinsed and drained again (or 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed and drained again.)
- 1 red bell pepper stemmed, seeded and diced
- 1 half of a sweet onion peeled and diced
- 1 jalapeno stemmed, seeded and minced
- 1-2 cloves of garlic peeled and minced or pressed, according to preference
- the juice of two limes
- a large fistful of fresh cilantro or parsley chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Toss all of the ingredients together and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Reader's Thoughts...
Bec says
Could chopped tomatoes be added to this? Or diced canned such as petite chopped or Rotel?
Rebecca says
Hi Bec- I think that sounds delicious!
Deitan says
Just made this for a party this weekend, and it was so delicious! Doubled it and didn’t have much left. Everyone enjoyed it, so easy, pretty and festive looking. Thank you for another great recipe!
Laura says
Perfect timing!
I have several ears of corn in the fridge and my husband just brought me a corn cutting tool he found at the store. A red onion and an extra jalapeno would give this some serious zip. Wouldn’t this be great on chicken enchiladas?
Earlene says
I made something close to this for a demo at the local grocery store. People liked it, I didn’t put the jalapeno in as people here in the north are afraid of hot!!! Go figure! Thanks for the reminder of the recipe that I had!!
Vicki says
I do not put the jalapeno’s or garlic in . I do put 1 tsp. sugar and 1 TBSP cider vinigar in my and we all love it except for my husband can not have because he can not have corn but the rest of us love it with chips and tortilla’s. With my left overs if it is a tablespoon or so i put in a salad and have a southwest version of my own very taseful.
Elizabeth from the Berkshires says
For the black beans… is it 1 1/2 cups or pounds? Or something else?
Rebecca says
Holy moly! I need a proofreader. It’s 1 1/2 cups, Elizabeth. Thank you! The recipe has been fixed to reflect it.
Michelle W says
You had me until “cilantro”… nice to see I can use parsley instead!
Sara says
Er…great minds?
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
I need to try this asap! Yum!