Bento Box #4: Corn and Black Bean Salad

Bento Box #4: Corn and Black Bean Salad
Serves 5
Ingredients

• 2 cans of corn
• 1 can of back beans
• 2 avocados
• handful of carrots
• 2 shallots
• 1 stalk of celery
• a few bunches of green onions
• 2 heads of broccoli (optional)
• handful of cherry tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1. Wash and chop the avocados, green onions, broccoli, celery, carrots and shallots.
2. Drain the corn and black beans into a colander and set aside together with the cherry tomatoes.
3. Mix in the vegetables, pour the lemon juice over and refrigerate. 

Modified from http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/1014/black-bean-salad.aspx

This is my best 'lazy college student' meal. The ingredients can be kept in the pantry or the fridge until needed so I can shop weeks ahead of time. The only time-consuming part is all the chopping and there is no cooking required so it is perfect for the summer. There is a lot of food for the work I put into this and it can keep for days.

2 cans of corn: $2.18 at Target
Can of black beans: $0.82 at Target
2 heads of broccoli: $0.68 at Fred Meyer
Grape Tomatoes, 1/8 of a carton at $4.99/carton = $0.62 at Fred Meyer
Avocados, 1/2 of a bag of 4 at $2.99/bag = $1.50 at Trader Joe's
Carrots, 1/5 of a bag at $2.84/bag = $0.59 at Target

Celery, 1/4 of a bag at $1.79/bag = $0.45 at Trader Joe's

Green Onions, 1/2 of a bag at $0.99/bag = $0.50 at Trader Joe's

Shallots, 1/2 of a bag at $0.99/bag = $0.50 at Trader Joe's

Lemon Juice, 1/10 of a bottle at $1.49/bottle = $0.15 at Safeway
Total Cost: $7.99 for 5 servings or $1.69 per serving

Other entries in this series:

Bento Box #1: Sushi Rice, Stir Fried Broccoli, Carrots and Water Chestnuts, Grape Tomatoes and Tamago
Bento Box #2: Edamame Salad with Rice
Bento Box #3: Edamame Salad with Onigiri