I don’t consider myself a dooms day kind of person, but all the same, I like the feeling of being prepared no matter what may come our way. It must come from my homesteading roots. I *blushingly* confess I use a 24” tool box to store my first aid supplies. I have a generator in the garage. And after years of feeding four children, I probably have enough food put up to feed a small army.
Okay, so most of the meat doesn’t count as it is specifically for the farmers markets. But I have a wonderful selection of dried beans and I buy my rice, flour, and sugar in twenty five pound bags. My biggest infatuation though is freezing and preserving my way through the summer months. Given all this, it is pretty safe to say our pantry and larder are comfortably full.
Did I mention beans? 
I keep a selection of dried kidney beans, black beans, white beans, cranberry beans, and garbanzo beans always on hand. I also normally have dried split peas, various lentils, and pearl barley too. I love creating main dishes, usually soups, stews, and chilies, with these easy to store pantry staples. But in the summer, I am always looking for ways to incorporate these ingredients into delicious salads and sides.
I am not sure how much longer we will have sweet corn but I intend to get my fill while the season lasts. Here is an easy salad Jordan and I created with some leftover corn on the cob. For quick summer recipes like this, I try to keep canned black beans on hand. With a little planning, cooked (dried) beans would work very well too.
The rule for most dried beans is:
1 pound dried beans = 2 cups dried beans = 5 cups cooked beans
- 4 ears sweet corn, cut off the cob
- 1 – 15 oz can black beans, rinsed
- 1 large tomato, seeded and diced
- ½ red onion, diced
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Cook corn in boiling water for 12 minutes. Once the corn is cool enough to handle, use a sharp knife and cut corn off the cob. Use the back of your knife and run the knife up and down the cob to remove the last bits of corn clinging to the cob.
- Meanwhile rinse black beans and let drain until almost dry. Remove seeds from tomato and dice into ½ pieces. Dice onion. Rough chop washed cilantro.
- Mix corn, black beans, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
