black bean salad

• 4 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 yellow pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 orange pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
• fresh cilantro, chopped fine
• juice of half a lime
• good quality olive oil
• good quality balsamic vinegar

Place beans, peppers, tomatoes and cilantro in large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together lime juice with close to equal parts of oil and vinegar, about a quarter cup total. Use very good quality of each, you know, those bottles you got on close out (vinegar is a preserving agent, it's not going to go bad). I had some scallion oil that I used as part of the oil and it added nicely, but regular olive oil works fine. Stir whisked dressing into beans and toss to coat. Serve cold.

The dish: Beans are popular in almost every culture on the globe, and with good reason, they're plentiful and healthy, packed with protein and fiber with no fat and very few calories. Beans are a powerful weapon against high cholesterol, diabetes, diverticulitis, constipation, even cancer and a host of other health maladies. If you tend to avoid them because of their most notorious side effect, begin eating a small amount of them on a frequent basis, maybe a bite three times a day. This will help your body produce a beneficial bacteria (which is all that Beano is) that will help in dealing with the complex sugars (complex is the key- your body will burn them for energy but not store them as fat) that cause gas. Draining and rinsing is also key here; what you're doing is washing away extra sugars that cause discomfort, as well as the lions share of the sodium.