Crunchy Chunky Summer Salad

You don't win friends with salad, but this might be an exception to the rule. Inspired by a Chow.com article about summery salads, I raided my cupboard and devised a boldly flavored, attractively colorful Southwesternish hodgepodge of a salad, blanketed in a spicy, velvety chipotle dressing.  I really like the crisp, tarty taste of raw tomatillos, but if you find you're not really a fan, perhaps add a bit of red onion instead.

Crunchy Chunky Summer Salad:
Serves 3-4

*2 good-lookin' tomatoes, seeded and diced

*1 tomatillo, husked and diced small

*1 jalapeno, minced

*1 small bell pepper, any color, diced

*3-4 ears corn, husked, washed, shucked

*1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained well

*1 scallion, thinly sliced

*A handful of cilantro, finely chopped

Drain the tomatoes on a paper towel and sprinkle just a touch of kosher salt over them. Shuck the corn into a colander so that the kernels may drain. After everything else has been diced, drained, etc, toss  together in a large serving bowl or ladle it out into smaller bowls, and drizzle the dressing over the salad.

Chipotle Dressing

*1 ripe avocado, pitted

*Juice from 3 limes

*2 tablespoons olive oil

*2 chipotle peppers in adobo

*2 garlic cloves

*Healthy pinches of salt & pepper

*A bit of water to thin consistency

Blitz everything together in a mini food processor, thinning it with a little bit of water if necessary to make it pourable.