Corn and Bean Salad

Last night we had our Relief Society birthday party at church, complete with potluck refreshments. I always like to bring something healthy, to balance out all the delicious sweet cakes and puddings. This time, inspired by a Mexican style dinner we had over the weekend, I used one of my favourite recipes: a Corn and Black bean salad. However, it's rather difficult to get black beans in England, so I used black-eyed peas instead. The lime juice and fresh coriander really bring a freshness to this dish, and the chili powder and chili pepper give it a nice kick. After several people asked about the ingredients, I promised them I would post the recipe on my blog.  So here it is:

Corn and Black Bean Salad

1/4 cup apricot preserves/jam
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp chili powder (or to taste, I think I used less)
3 Tbs lime juice
1 tsp salt (I used less)
1 can (about 2 cups) black beans,
1 can corn, drained
1 jalapeno, finely chopped (or a green chili)
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbs fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped

Tortilla chips to serve

Mix the apricot preserves, olive oil, chili powder, lime juice, and the salt together in a medium/large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, and mix until well combined. Serve with tortilla chips.

Note: I would suggest starting with less chili powder and salt, then taste once all the ingredients are mixed together, and add more chili powder or salt as needed.

For those of you in England, I really like Aldi's tinned corn the best. It is inexpensive, yet very fresh tasting. Also, it is packed only in water. I bought a tin of corn from Tesco, which was packed in "sugared salt water," because I needed it in a pinch, and it was no good. The kernels were starchy and mushy, and not much flavour. I couldn't bear to use it in the salad, so made an extra trip to Aldi to get the good stuff.