Southwestern Black Bean Salad

This is typically a no-cook salad, but we found 5 minutes in the skillet was time well spent. We quickly edited out the dull bell pepper and harsh onion found in traditional recipes for Southwestern black bean salad. Instead, we used scallions, which were mellow and light. Creamy avocados gave the salad richness, tomatoes lent juicy freshness, and corn added welcome sweetness.Sautéing the corn (both fresh and frozen worked well) in a skillet until it was toasty and just starting to brown added a pleasant nuttiness to the kernels.In order to give our salad the wake-up call it needed, we turned the typical dressing ratio of 1 part acid to 3 parts oil nearly upside down, using much more lime juice than olive oil. A teaspoon of honey balanced the citrus kick, and throwing the scallions into the dressing mellowed them nicely.