Avocado Salad

This comes from the Barefoot Contessa. It's a fantastic summer salad. Serve as a side salad or with tortilla chips for scooping.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish

YOU WILL NEED

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained (dump them into a mesh strainer or colander and run water over them)

1/2 cup red onion, diced

1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped

zest of one lime

juice of 2 limes

1-2 T good olive oil

1 t kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 clove garlic, pressed

2 ripe avocados cut into 1/2-inch dice (at point of service - do not prep any earlier)

METHOD

Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeño peppers, and lime zest in a large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Toss well.

Just before you're ready to serve the salad, cut the avocados and gently stir into the salad. Check the seasoning and serve at room temperature.