Black Bean and Shallot Salsa

Lately, I've been on a real Mexican food kick. It may be due to the fact that I'm doing my best to avoid eating peppers and corn, which makes eating authentic Mexican food quite a trick. Really, it's impossible to avoid both of those ingredients at a restaurant so I've been adapting many of our favorite foods to my dietary restrictions and, believe it or not, coming up with some really fabulous results!

There's also something about Mexican food that lends itself beautifully to the hot weather we've been having lately! Not to mention an excellent way to use up all those delightful, fresh tomatoes that I cannot seem to get enough of, buying them at every conceivable opportunity. I've been using those especially to make salsa (we got sick of just slicing them and eating them with salt and olive oil) and we currently have three kinds in the fridge. Ooops! I guess you can never have too much salsa; it is one of the vegetarian's favorite snacks after all and he makes sure to keep us well-stocked with chips.

This particular salsa is hearty due to the black beans and also a little sweet from the shallots. I was inspired by a Black Bean and Corn Salsa recipe from Eat to Live, a great all-but-vegan cookbook by Joel Fuhrman that has lots of neat, healthy tricks and ingredients that I don't use nearly as often as I should. Since shallots bring a sweetness, I used them as the other main flavor in the salsa and I really like the results! While wonderful with chips, we also enjoyed it over some sprouted-grain quesadillas. Bon appetit!

Black Bean and Shallot Salsa
inspired by Eat to Live

• 1 can cooked black beans
• 1 small shallot, quartered
• 4 slicing tomatoes, quartered
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 small yellow onion, quartered
• 3 large cloves garlic, halved
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin, ground
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Place all ingredients except for lime juice, cumin and garlic powder in a food processor and pulse until just combined and desired consistency (this well be a softer salsa due to the black beans and olive oil). Remove and place in a serving bowl. Stir in lime juice, cumin and garlic powder. Serve with raw vegetables or tortilla chips, if desired. Enjoy!

Got leftovers? This is delicious mixed with scrambled eggs.

Links:

• Avocado-Lime Black Beans from The Kitchn
• Black Bean Salad with Corn, Red Peppers, Avocado & Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette from Once Upon a Chef
• Mexican Cornmeal Pancakes with Black Bean and Pineapple Salsa from Midwest Living
• Corn and Black Bean Salsa with Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette from Made from Pinterest
• Easy Avocado-Lime Black Bean Salad from Oh She Glows