Mango Pineapple Black Bean Salad

Well, this has certainly been a helluva week. When trying to find some writing inspiration, so many of the odd variables come to mind for subject matter. One is the massive flooding in my beautiful city, that has caused millions of dollars worth of damage and destruction. The second is the sudden tragic death of an old friend of whom I was once very close with but had grown apart from in years past, and how sad I am that this world is missing another beautiful soul. And lastly is the starting of one job I was really excited for, then being offered another, better job and moving right along to that one.


I'm guessing these subjects aren't necessarily food-blog worthy, and not a one of them makes me exactly think about  a sweet summer salad. I guess that  it relates in the way that we should live every day like it's our last. Call old friends for coffee. Take opportunities and screw if it's a good idea, just trust your gut, and if your gut is wrong, do something else and carry on with your head held high. Take the time to make good food and enjoy it with the people you love, because life is as unpredictable as melting white chocolate, you never know when it's going to get all wonky on you  no matter how hard you try to do it right.

Mango Pineapple and Black Bean Salad

-1 mango, cubed

- 1 cup pineapple, fresh or canned

-1/2 cup pineapple juice

-1 can black beans, rinsed

-1/2 cup chopped parsley

-1 small red onion, diced

-2 T. Olive oil

-1 t. cinnamon

-1 t. salt

-1 T sugar or honey

-2 T red wine vinegar

Directions: Combine mango,  pineapple, beans, parsley and onions in a bowl and gently toss to combine. In another bowl combine olive oil, cinnamon, pineapple juice, salt, honey, red wine vinegar and stir to combine, then toss with dry ingredients and let sit 1 hour in fridge before serving.

A lovely and colorful side dish for anything grilled this summer. You can chop everything smaller and serve it as a salsa  or topping for chicken or fish too!

It's nice to have some easy and healthy salads to pull out of your hat during the summer when you just want to enjoy yourself and not spend all day over a hot stove. It also goes really well with taco salad and a Negro Modelo, which is how I had it tonight... tres'yum!