Black Bean and Corn Salad with Country Corn Muffins

It's been hot. I've been busy. My toddler son is a bundle of energy, and by day's end, I haven't had much energy left to blog. I also haven't been having enough energy to put a lot of thought or creativity into my cooking. This past week, I definitely employed a let's-see-what-I-can-make-with-frozen-veggies-and-beans-and-grains-and-whatever-else-I-can-scrounge-up kind of cooking tactic. As a result, I did default to some quick and easy faves, like Mexican pizza, Kristen Suzanne's Raw Harvest Soup (doggone it, I made this last night and didn't take a picture because I thought I had already blogged about it - WRONG!!), AFR's Big Fat Taco Salad, and (when I was especially tired), Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs with spaghetti and frozen broccoli:

I also have been enjoying some Living Harvest Tempt Coffee Biscotti hempmilk ice cream, which I picked up on sale at Whole Foods (I'm too much of a blogger newbie to figure out how to rotate the picture, but you get the idea):

Today, I actually busted out the knife and cutting board (and muffin tin!!) and made a real dinner. It's an old favorite of ours, Black Bean and Corn Salad with some Country Corn Muffins from How it All Vegan!:

I've made this recipe dozens of times, and it is just so easy and so good. I take it to cookouts, potlucks, and even when we go camping, and it's always a big hit. Fresh tomatoes, corn, orange pepper, black beans, scallions, and cilantro are tossed in a zesty lime-garlic-olive oil dressing (I reduce the oil, though, from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup).

It's perfect in so many ways: easy to make, no cooking involved, makes a lot, transports well, and it's very nutritious.

I love the Country Corn Muffins recipe. It's probably the most fool-proof recipe I've come across. Even though the recipe calls for all-purpose flour, I have substituted whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, and buckwheat flour (as I did tonight), and the muffins always come out great. I actually love the funky color the buckwheat flour gives the muffins! :) I also use my own egg substitute (2 tbs garbanzo bean flour and 2 tbs water), agave instead of sugar, and lemon juice instead of vinegar. I told you, it's fool-proof! These are gluten-free, whole-grain, low-sugar, and chock full of fresh corn.

I bet the salad would be really great just scooped up with some tortilla chips, too! Hmm....