Last week I met up with some friends from university who I hadn’t seen for over a decade. One flew over with her family and another flew over with her baby and nanny.

Re the latter: that was a fresh insight into single-parenting. I’m not going to say that it looked easy (at all), but wow that extra pair of hired hands looked helpful!

Disarmingly, everyone looked exactly the same. How is that possible? I guess we owe a lot these days to healthy living, SPF and moisturiser!

Given the sunny weather, for our first night we rolled out the BBQ. As well as amazing steak, our hosts made a delicious Mexican-style salad. It was substantial enough not to need potatoes or any other starchy side, but light enough to feel like summer.

It was also a wonderfully easy throw-together combo, with several ingredients you probably have in your cupboard. And it’s a flexible concept, so you could really make it work with whatever you have leftover in the fridge.

Switch up the salad veggies, change the herbs, bulk it out with some finely chopped red cabbage, replace the avocado with some organic feta … whatever works!

The nice thing about using beans/corn for carbs is that you get more antioxidants and fibre than you would find in a regular white potato or something like rice.

I’m not sure whether it was the excitement – or maybe the wine – but halfway through dinner, while cutting my steak, my knife slipped on the plate and I sent the salad flying. On the table, on the floor … basically everywhere. Later that night, at home as I undressed, a black bean fell out of my sleeve. Not my most glamorous moment.

So, while I don’t suggest you wear it, I do suggest you make it. This is going to become your new favourite summer side. It’s healthy, easy, feeds a crowd (or makes leftovers) and is absolutely packed full of flavour. Thanks to Flora for the recipe!

Mexican-style Summer Salad (serves 6)

Ingredients:

2 heads of Romaine, finely shredded (or any mixed salad you like)

1 tin of black beans, drained and washed

1 tin sweetcorn, drained and washed

1 to 2 jars roasted red or yellow peppers, diced (equivalent to 1 to 2 fresh peppers)

1 cup of mixed cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1 ripe avocado, diced

Large handful of chopped cilantro

Optional:

Crumbled organic feta cheese, crumbled organic tortilla chips.

Dressing:

1/4 teaspoon cumin, salt, pepper, juice of one lime and 2 tbsp olive oil.

Method:

Throw everything together in a large bowl and toss! Check seasoning and add more dressing or seasoning if you like.

Catherine Burns is a fully qualified clinical nutritionist. She can be contacted at 291-4725 or clinicalnutrition@gmail.com