Guacamole Salad

While in Winthrop, WA, we had a wonderful chef, Jo. They made this salad for lunch one day. So easy and so delicious, just plain straight out of the bowl or as a dip with tortilla chips. I had it for a subsequent meal or two as the crowd's only vegetarian.

Guacamole Salad:

INGREDIENTS:

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and 1/2-inch diced
1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained (or 1/2 cup dry black beans, soaked and cooked)
1/2 cup small-diced red onion
2 T. mince jalapeno peppers, seeded (2 small peppers)
1/2 t. freshly grated lime zest
1/4 C. freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
1/4 C. olive oil
1 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 t. minced garlic
1/4 t. ground cayenne pepper
2 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled and 1/2-inch diced

PREPARATION:

Add the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeno peppers and lime zest to a large bowl. Whisk together lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Toss well. Just before you serve the salad, fold in the avocados. Check the seasoning and serve at room temperature.

***I'm not completely sure where the recipe came from since it was a photocopy given to me. But it is from a book and I see "Barefoot Contessa" in the introduction paragraph to the recipe.