This salad is always a hit and a stable in our diet, particularly in summer when the corn and peppers are plentiful. It is tasty and colorful and can even be served as a summer salad lunch main coarse or as a salsa. (See easy note at the very bottom)

1 c black beans, cooked and drained

1 c roasted corn kernals (see note 1 below)

1 red bell pepper, roasted and diced (see Note 2 below)

1/3 c sweet onion, diced

1 T jalapeos, finely diced (see note 3 below)

1/3 c lime juice

2 T cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Combine, season and cover. Can be made ahead but is best served at room temperature.

Note 1: There are several ways to roast corn. If you are doing everything fresh and from scratch for this recipe, I would roast the corn on the grill with the bell peppers. You would take the husks off the corn leaving the last layer, peeling them back, removing the silks and recovering the corn. Wet them thoroughly and grill, turning until charred. Alernatively, you could do the same procedure but cook them on a sheet pan in a 300 oven. I sometimes even cut them off the cob and roast the kernals on a cookie sheet with a bit of olive oil.

Note 2: Roast the peppers on the grill or in a high temperature oven, turning until the skin is charred, then sweat in a paper or plastic bag, closed for about 15 minutes, before peeling, deveining and chopping.

Note 3: You can roast the jalapeos with the bell pepper using the same procedure. Alternatively, you could put the jalapeos in the dish fresh or use pickled jalapeos.

Final note: you can make this dish the easy way but using canned black beans, frozen corn that you char with olive oil on a roasting pan and canned roasted red bell peppers and put this whole dish together in a matter of 15 minutes.

Makes about 3 cups.