Black Bean and Corn Salad

At a certain point, students of America's indigenous people looked about and began to wonder where, in places like New Mexico, the natives were finding resources like nutrients. Most of New Mexico is a desert, yet it had been happily settled long before the conquistadores arrived. A thorough investigation followed, focusing largely on corn. The indigenous diet, you see, centered aroud corn, and corn is an incomplete source of protein unless, it was discovered, you either:

a) Soak it in an alkali, like lye or lime (the stone, not the fruit). This breaks down the germ of the corn, creating hominy, which is vastly more digestible, and therefore more nutritious.

B) Pair corn with beans. Neither corn nor beans is all that healthful on their own, but put them together and you have the components from which your body can assemble a very good complete protein.

 And thus, I suggest you eat this marvelously economical salad. Cheap, fast as hell, nutritious as can be: a trifecta of delights! No special equipment is needed, and you can -- truly -- mix in damn near anything.

Base:

1 can pre-cooked black beans

3/4 can sweet corn

Olive oil, salt, and lime juice to taste

....that's it. Done. Now, for delicious, I reccomend you add some of, really, any of the following:

Red onion (1/4-1/2ish, chopped in small pieces)

Cilantro, minced

Crushed garlic (2 cloves for very garlicky)

Chopped mango

Jicama, peeled and diced (about 1/2 of a small-ish bulb)

Apple

Peppers, in almost any format (roasted and peeled, chopped and sauteed, raw and crispy)

Minced jalapeno.

Stir in whatever else you like and eat it! So simple! Spoon it onto chopped cabbage or greens to lighten things up a bit. I find the above makes enough salad for four good portions.