Summer Salads

We love eating salads in the summertime because there is less heating up the house to use the oven. Here are a couple of our favorites...

Black Bean and Corn Salad (great when you are doing a Mexican meal)
1 cup corn
2 (16 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
2 T. minced onion
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 T. olive oil
1 t. lemon juice
1 t. minced garlic
1 t. brown sugar
salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients and let salad marinate for at least 30 minutes before eating.

Pasta Salad
1 lb. pasta (we use Pagoda pasta), cooked and drained
2 cucumbers, peeled and diced
2 tomatoes, diced
3 green onions, thinly sliced
8 oz. Italian dressing
2 T. salad seasoning (This is what we use.)
crumbled feta
I normally mix all the ingredients except the feta. Since no one else likes feta here except me, I just add feta to mine. You do need to refrigerate this several hours before serving.