Red Beans & Rice Salad

I love taking ordinary dinners and turning them into a scrumptious, out of the ordinary salad. I have done this with pizza and came up with Pizza Salad. I also tried this with a stir fry and made an Oriental Salad that I will have to reproduce so I can remember what I put in it. These salads do not always have to be elaborate, like the pizza salad was everything we liked on pizzas tossed into a salad. Red Beans and Rice Salad is the same concept.

This salad has all the regular components of Beans and Rice but with a little twist. It also has a salsa vinaigrette that is easy sneezy to make. Trust me once you taste this salad beans and rice will never be the same.

Red Beans & Rice Salad
Serves 4

1 vidalia onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 Tablespoon chopped jalapeno peppers
2 T extra virgin olive oil

Saute onion and garlic and peppers in oil until translucent.

Salad
1 can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 head romaine lettuce
1 yellow pepper, sliced thin
1 bunch cilantro, minced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 green onions, sliced
1 zucchini, halved and thinly sliced
1 mango, peeled, pitted and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, chopped and soaked in 2 Tablespoons lime juice

Mix together in Salad bowl along with onion mixture, set aside.

Salsa Vinaigrette

1 cup of your favorite salsa, (I used a peach flavor)
2 Tablespoons lime juice
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Whirl together in food processor until smooth.

Pour over salad and enjoy with some grilled corn tortillas or a piece of corn bread.