Red Bean Salad

I recently had a friend give me some red beans that she cooked.  By themselves, they were delicious, but there was quite a bit of them, so my mind started to wander…….to chili. In July. Like those Christmas in July movies on TV.  When the temperature is in the 90’s and the humidity is 100%. And you are watching people wrapped up in sweaters and coats. Huddled around fireplaces.  Really hard time getting into that.

But I kept thinking of chili.

And then I would take the dog out for a walk (or a drag, to be more precise).

Every day, the same routine….I open the door, she sticks her nose out.  Unless it is between 65 and 69 degrees with less than 10% humidity and winds 5 mph out of the south, she wants to return to her hiding spot under the table, or sit in the front window where she can bark at all the really big dogs and tick them off so that when she meets them face to face, she has to hide behind her mommy so they don’t eat her.

If I can actually get her out, she trots either up or down the street about 2-3 houses, does her business, sniffs the same spot for 20 minutes doing a DNA analysis on someone’s pee to see if they had chicken or beef for breakfast,  loses her stuff if she sees her arch-enemy, Miley, then looks at me like I have left her to wander in the Sahara for two weeks, and drags me home as fast as she can.  And all this is before breakfast.

So the last thing I should be thinking about in the heat of July, is chili.

But what if the chili was cold?  Better yet, what if it was meant to be eaten cold?

So, here I basically deconstructed chili, and tried to lighten it up a bit with an avocado oil and lime dressing. For July. Merry Christmas!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups red beans (or kidney beans) rinsed and drained
• 1 cup seeded and chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup green pepper, diced

Dressing:

• 2 Tablespoons avocado oil
• 1  1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin (optional, cause not everyone likes cumin.  or chili)

Directions:

1. Combine the beans, tomato, onion and green pepper in a medium bowl.
2. In a small bowl or jar, combine the oil, garlic, lime juice, salt and cumin (if using…the cumin will definitely give it more of a chili flavor, so if you like cold chili, then go for it), and shake or whisk to combine ingredients.
3. Pour the dressing over the bean mixture and refrigerate till ready to serve.

Enjoy!