Last night I made black bean soup for the first time using Kristin’s recipe over on Iowa Girl Eats. This stuff is GOOD! She isn’t joking when she says it is the “best” black bean soup ever.

Instead of re-posting her recipe and using my not so good pictures I figured you can stop over to her site to see the recipe & all the goodness she cooks up!  But the part that I want to share with you…the Cilantro Lime Rice that Kristin made and puts in the black bean soup.

I love finding new ways to spice up rice, quinoa (check out my Italian Style Quinoa), any grain really. So when I saw her recipe for Cilantro Lime Rice I knew this was a good, easy recipe to share. This would be perfect to pair with taco night, as a side to a bowl of chili and of course to put in Kristin’s Black Bean Soup. I changed her recipe slightly but I think this is one of those rice dishes you can really tailor to your likes. Tomatoes, black beans, less lime, more lime..whatever your tastes desire.

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Yield: 4-5

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

A light and healthy salad packed full of veggies, olives and feta and topped with a light vinaigrette.

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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 3 cups pasta (I used tri-colored rotini, fortified with spinach and tomato)
• 1/2 English cucumber, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Instructions

1. Directions
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente.
3. In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, oregano, basil and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. In a large bowl, combine cooked pasta, onion, tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, olives, feta cheese.
5. Toss the pasta salad with half of the dressing, mixing well. Cover the bowl and chill overnight.
6. Before serving the salad toss the remaining half of the dressing over the pasta salad.

Notes

If you are serving the salad right away you can rinse the pasta off with cold water to cool it down then mix it with the vegetables, cheese and olives and all of the dressing. Peperocinis would be a great addition in this recipe (I just didn't have any on hand) as well as grilled chicken or chopped roasted red peppers. Pasta salads are very customizable! If there is something you don’t like take it out. If there is something you want, add it in. There are no rules!!