Black Bean, Grilled Corn and Watermelon Salad

A perfect salad for your summer BBQ.  Sweet, tart, cool, fresh, with hints of barbecue charring, this salad is delightful all summer long, and not just with  Grilled Chicken Breast. The flavours and colours complement fish and shellfish, pork, grilled tofu or halloumi cheese. Add feta and turn this into a vegetarian main all on its own. Cilantro or coriander is a love-it-or-hate-it herb; it can be replaced with Thai basil.  From Food and Drink magazine

¼ cup (60 mL) gold tequila
⅓ cup (80 mL) extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup (60 mL) freshly squeezed lime juice
Zest of 1 lime
1 tbsp (15 mL) agave syrup
1 clove garlic, finely minced or grated
¼ tsp (1 mL) fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2½ cups (625 mL) or 2 cans (each 398 mL)
black beans
4 cobs of corn, shucked
3 cups (750 mL) or about ½ a mini watermelon,
diced in 1½ inch (4 cm) cubes
1 to 3 jalapeño peppers, seeds and veins removed,
brunoised or very finely diced
1 sweet long red pepper, seeds and veins
removed, finely diced
8 green onions (scallions), white and tender
green parts, finely sliced
⅓ cup (80 mL) fresh mint leaves, chiffonade
or finely chopped
1 cup (250 mL) fresh cilantro (coriander) leaves
and tender top stems, finely chopped

1 To make vinaigrette, in a large non-reactive bowl add tequila, olive oil, lime juice, zest, agave, garlic, salt and pepper; whisk and set aside.

2 Rinse and drain the beans well. Set aside to dry.

3 Grill corn over medium flame, turning often, until a good amount of char forms on much of each cob—about 10 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

4 Once cool, stand the cobs up on a large chopping board and, using a sharp chef’s knife, strip the kernels off.

5 Add the corn to the vinaigrette bowl, followed by the beans, diced watermelon, jalapeño (as many as you can take!), red pepper, green onion and chopped herbs. Taste and adjust for salt.

Serves 4 to 6