Black Bean Salad with Smoked Mozzarella

February 2, 2015

Whenever I see a recipe with black beans I immediately think about my friend Isa who made a similar black bean salad for me when I visited her for dinner one day.  At that time I was interested in eating in a more healthy way but I wasn't committed yet. I was skeptical about whether or not I would be full after dinner and was so surprised that it did fill me up. Since then I've been meaning to ask for the recipe from my friend.  Maybe she'll read this post and pass it along. In the mean time, I found this recipe.  I'm excited about this recipe for so many reasons, the biggest one is because it's incredibly easy.  I mean, it's dinner in no time. I LOVED it, and Brian raved about it for a long time so it's definitely delicious. I think that if I were to ever go to a picnic with friends I could bring this dish along and it will be an immense success! Also, it's very few calories.

Black Bean Salad with Smoked Mozzarella

Serves 4, working time 15 min., total time 30 min.

GTLF: Vegetables 125

Four 6 in. corn tortillas, each cut into six wedges

1/3 C reduced sodium chicken broth, de fatted, or reduced sodium vegetable broth

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3/4 tsp. dried tarragon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce

two 16 oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained

6 scallions, thinly sliced

1 1/2 C cherry tomatoes

1/3 C chopped fresh parsley

3 oz. smoked mozzarella, diced

1 large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 oz. Canadian bacon, diced

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the tortilla wedges on a baking sheet and bake for 5 min., or until lightly crisp. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the broth, lemon juice, tomato paste, tarragon, salt, and hot pepper sauce. Add the black beans, scallions, tomatoes, parsley, and mozzarella and toss to combine.

3. In a large skillet, combine the onion, garlic, 1/3C of water, and the bacon and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the onion mixture to the black bean mixture and toss to combine.

4. Spoon the black bean mixture onto a serving platter, place the tortilla wedges around the salad, and serve.

Nutritional Information: 7 g fat, 302 calories, 3.1 g sat fat, 44g carbohydrate, 17 g protein, 20 mg cholesterol, 964 mg sodium

Tips:

1. GTLF suggests that this recipe can be made up to a day ahead of time.  Refrigerate.  

2. Try different kinds of cheeses.  GTLF suggests plain mozzarella, feta, goat cheese etc.