My Favorite Summer Meal, Plus Black Bean and Mango Salad Recipe

As the summer weather will be quickly passing us by, I am trying to enjoy the food of summer as much as possible while I still can! What can beat (food-wise) all of the wonderful fresh fruit and vegetables, the fresh salmon, and more. Speaking of salmon, I really can't think of a better summer meal than one including fresh, wild Alaskan salmon. I feel so good after I eat it. During the summer we eat it once a week, though we try to eat it regularly throughout the year as well. Trader Joe's has really good prices on frozen salmon and that is where we usually get it in seasons other than summer, but it doesn't nearly taste as amazing as the good stuff we can get in summer.

Last night we had what is probably my all-time favorite summer meal. Fresh wild salmon, rice and a black bean and mango salad. Yummy! Please excuse my photos as I am still a newbie to photography, but hopefully from them you can get the gist. You might notice we are eating white rice instead of brown. I am still looking into this more, but one of the diets I am very interested in (The Perfect Health Diet) advocates for white rice over brown because it has a lower natural toxicity level. Because my kids love white rice that is what we have been eating lately. I personally prefer brown but I am going to be buying the book for this diet and reading more on what they have to say on the topic. What I really like about the Perfect Health Diet is that it is a Paleo-style diet but also maintains that we have a need for some "safe" starches. They allow for white rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes and tapioca. I am not adhering to this diet completely, and I know for sure I don't agree with every element of it, but it has been helpful as a guide as we have sought to decrease our grains/starches yet not eliminate them completely.

Alrighty, now that I have successfully taken a major side track off of my subject, back to our meal from last night. Here is my black bean salad recipe. I have made many different variations on it through the past couple of years. You can do it with corn, avocado or any variety of veggie and or fruit you like. This also makes a great side dish for a potluck!


Black Bean and Mango Salad

• ~2 C black beans (or 1 can)
• ~2 C cut up mango 
• 1/2 C diced yellow pepper
• 1/8-1/4 C chopped green onion
• 1/4 C chopped cilantro
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (we have citrus issues, but you could use lemon or lime juice instead)
• salt to taste
• Optional: 1 avocado cubed (sometimes I do this instead of the yellow pepper)

Mix up all of the ingredients and serve!