This black bean avocado salad has been one of my favorite meals lately. It’s simple, cheap and extremely flexible, so you can add or subtract ingreidents based on what’s in your pantry or what you’re craving. Also, avocados have been super cheap at the grocery store lately, so it’s perfect for taking advantage of them! Hat tip to Oh She Glows for the original inspiration.
1 can low sodium black beans
1/4-1/2 can of corn
1 ripe avocado
1/4-1/2 red onion (or 2-3 shallots if you’re fancy)
juice of 1-2 fresh limes (don’t use the gross plastic container lime juice, trust me)
5-6 stems of cilantro (or if you’re like me, half a bunch, ha)
salt and pepper to taste
Optional:
1 tsp cumin
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1 tbsp olive oil
Drain and rinse the black beans and corn and put in a medium bowl. Cut the avocado in half and cube it into small squares and stir into the beans and corn so that everything is lightly coated in avocado. Dice the red onion into very small pieces and add to bowl. Add the lime juice. Pluck the cilantro leaves from the stems and cut into small slivers with a knife, then add to bean and avocado mixture and stir. Add the salt and pepper to taste.
This salad is so refreshing and uses 3 of my favorite ingredients: Lime juice, cilantro and avocado! It’s also chock full of protein, especially if you add the quinoa, which I highly recommend. You can also add olive oil, though personally I don’t think this recipe needs it as you get a lot of flavor and moisture from the lime juice. Also, if you’re feeling extra nosh-y, this makes a great dip for tortilla chips!
In other non-food related news, the weather has started to get a bit colder in Philly today. I knew the absurd 60 degree weather wouldn’t last but honestly I’m a little sad to see it go. However, the update from my Ohio friends is that it’s snowing in Columbus, so I’m pretty happy that we’re avoiding that here. It IS super windy today though, which I’m not pleased with since I wanted to get out for a 6 mile run. I over-extended myself in the early part of this week which led to major slackage from Wednesday on. I did manage to go to yoga last night, but the class had a substitute instructor that I did not mesh with. I find that instructors that aren’t at least moderately hippy-dippy, or come from a more athletic background, are not the kind of instructors I like. To me, yoga is as much about the inner journey as it is about balance and strengthening your core. Last night’s instructor turned part of the class into essentially an abs workout then only allowed for a 1-2 minute Shavasana, which irked me. Mariel’s Anusura yoga class is tonight and I definitely plan on going.
Tomorrow I hope to go to David’s 9am spin class again then maybe hit the pavement for a 5-6 mile race pace run before settling in to an afternoon spent tasting and writing about gin (oh my hobbies, they are so conflicting). And Sunday is my first 7.2 mile trail race with Jackie, which I’m masochistically excited for. The weather appears to be sunny and in the mid-30s, which I think will be perfect. What are your fitness plans for the weekend?