Guacamole Salad
19
It’s easily been over a year since I saw the episode of Barefoot Contessa where Ina makes this salad. I know that, because it’s been at least that long since I’ve watched Food Network.
I mentally bookmarked this recipe way back then, and I finally got around to making it. I’m so annoyed it took me so long, because this salad was pretty great. It had a nice tang from the lime zest, and was really fresh and crisp (especially with tomatoes finally starting to taste good again). I didn’t really make any changes to this salad other than to substitute green bell pepper for the yellow (because that’s what I had on hand) and add corn. I added the corn because in my head, the recipe already had it in there. When I scanned the ingredient list to check the amount, I realized I had made it up all along. But, it seemed like a great addition to this salad, and it was. And yeah, I know, corn isn’t in guacamole – but neither are black beans, right?
As you can see, I opted not to halve the tomatoes because I made the first part of the salad (without the avocado) earlier in the day. I didn’t really want tomato mush to permeate through the salad, and it’s not like grape tomatoes are too big to eat in one bite, so I probably wouldn’t bother halving them next time around, either.
In addition to eating this plain, it also made a great relish, of sorts, atop a chile-dusted chicken breast.
I liked this salad so much that I ended up making a very similar pasta salad for lunches this week. I omitted the avocados since they don’t really keep well once diced, and added a little bit of cheddar, a little salsa, and a couple spoonfuls of sour cream. Much better than the usual salads around my work, which are $12 a pop and nothing to write home about.
Guacamole Salad
Adapted from Ina Garten
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved (or not)
1 bell pepper, seeded and diced into 1/2″ pieces
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2/3 cup corn
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
2 Tbsp. minced jalapeño peppers (about 2 peppers)
1/2 tsp. lime zest
1/4 cup lime juice (2-3 limes)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 ripe Haas avocados
Place the tomatoes, bell pepper, black beans, corn, red onion, jalapeño, and lime zest in a large bowl.
Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic and cayenne. Pour over the vegetables and toss well.
Just before you’re ready to serve the salad, dice and gently fold in the avocados. Re-season if necessary.
This is lovely and fresh Elly! Love the lime in this (and everything else!)
What a tasty-looking salad! I am always on the lookout for great bean salad recipes and this looks like a keeper. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I am making a Mexican inspired meal this weekend for which this salad would be perfect!
This is one of my favorite salads, but for some reason I always forget about it, and I haven’t made it in over a year. Thanks for the reminder – I love the addition of corn!
Wow that sounds so good! Love so many of the ingredients in this! I’ll have to give this a try 😀
I LOVE avocado’s! This is a great salad! Perfect excuse to just each chunks of avocado!
Looks great. I feel like I always get into an avocado rut and only make guac and add it to green salads. Thanks for some new inspiration!
I love guac and will find any excuse to eat it at any meal! A salad being a prime example. I’m thinking this would also be great stuffed into a pita or a burrito!
Anything with avocado is good. I love love this salad 😀
Elly, your salad looks great, love the combination of texture, flavor and color. Very pretty. Hope you are having a great week 😉
Hi Elly, Found you via Annie’s Eats. We are grilling this weekend and I was looking for something fresh, healthy and tasty to serve alongside chicken and this is it!! Thanks for the inspiration! Quick question- what kind of corn did you use- fresh, frozen, canned… and how did you prepare it before putting it in the salad?
Hi Mary Beth. I just used frozen corn and let it thaw at room temp. If you are making the first part in advance though, you probably wouldn’t even need to thaw it because it will be thawed by the time you’re ready to serve. Now that corn is in season, it would also be great with a fresh ear of corn – I think grilling it (I always do it with the husk off) and then cutting the corn off the cob would be really great in this dish too. I have another grilled veg salad posted that I’ve done that with.
Made it tonight with the grilled corn and it was awesome!! Thanks for that suggestion. I couldn’t resist adding a little cilantro, although I know Ina wouldn’t like that!
Glad you liked it, Mary Beth!
This sounds like it’s full of flavors that I love. Perfect for summer!
Also, I think I’ve mostly read your posts through my Reader lately, so I’m not sure how new the blog design is… but I LOVE it!
you know i crave avocados, a lot. they say what you crave is actually what your body is lacking. don’t know if that’s true, could be. so lately i’ve been eating a lot of chopped up avocado in salads with honey mustard dressing. soooo good!
I just saw this on Barefoot Contessa – the corn looks like it would be a great addition! Looks lovely!
What a yummy looking salad…it looks perfect for the summer! Anything with avocado in it, I’m in!