"Fiesta Bean Salad"

Like I mentioned in a previous post, Vince and I have been trying to budget, including packing lunches.  I made this salad for the first time within my first couple weeks living together.  I've found the key to packing lunches is packing food you actually want to eat.  Many a time at my old job, my packed lunch would get pushed further back in the fridge as my coworkers' ideas for takeout sounded more enticing. Vin mentioned different salads sounding good and I thought of a recipe of Jackie's from college.  I couldn't track that down, but as always I found my way on Pinterest.  I get the feeling Vince's coworkers were a little impressed to see Vince actually bringing lunch, rather than going out for lunch every day as he was before.  They were also impressed with my over-doing the garlic, with the smell of garlic filling the room whenever Vince opened his container at lunchtime.  Though he loves garlic, I've since cut back for the sake of our containers and Vin not getting sick of the salad.  The original recipe recommends to eat it right away, but it's fine through the week, though the avocado gets soft.  I think maybe next time I'll add some black pepper.

Fiesta Bean Salad
From Gina's Skinny Recipes

Yields about 5 cups

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tablespoon fresh lime juice (about a whole lime)

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon cumin

pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup red onion, minced

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 medium avocado, diced

1. Combine garlic, lime juice, olive oil, cumin, red pepper flakes, and salt in a small bowl.  Set aside
2. In a large bowl, combine beans, chickpeas, tomatoes, red onion and cilantro until well mixed.  Add in avocado.  Stir in lime dressing.  

In the spirit of posting puppy pics, this is Wiggins and Tess.
We enjoyed puppy sitting for them recently.