Corn and Bean Salad with Iceberg Lettuce

Name: Corn and Bean Salad with Iceberg Lettuce and Gherkin Dressing
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Iceberg lettuce 1 head; Canned red beans 150 g; Canned sweet corn 150 g; Red sweet onion 1; White wine vinegar 1 tbsp; Parsley 2-3 sprigs; Egg yolk 1; Vegetable oil as needed; Vinegar or boiled water 1 tsp; Unseasoned homemade mayonnaise (or store-bought) 2-3 tbsp (29–43 g); Pickled gherkins 4-5; Gherkin brine 1 tbsp; Table mustard 1 tsp (5 g); Black pepper, sweet and hot paprika, dried aromatic herbs to taste

☆ Rate it

30 mins

A surprising combination: a juicy corn and bean salad dressed with a light dressing based on homemade mayonnaise with added gherkins. A long time ago, when I was little, the choice of green salad leaves was limited to lettuce and spinach, and I don’t remember canned corn or red beans at all. Green salads were a rarity, but Olivier salad was always there.

Today the choice of salad leaves is huge, for every taste. Making a vegetable salad with beans, corn and other additions is very easy. The most common and affordable leaf is Napa cabbage, which makes an excellent appetizer: Napa cabbage salad. Lettuce leaves with a ripe pear and a Roquefort-type cheese make an elegant and very light pear salad for a Mediterranean diet.

Lettuce, or head lettuce, is a common vegetable and probably the only species of the genus Lactuca that is eaten. Other similar plants are ordinary weeds. The many varieties of lettuce grown in huge quantities, depending on the type of head and leaf, are used for all kinds of dishes in cuisines around the world. Most often lettuces are classified by type of head: leaf, head, stem and so on.

Of the varieties available to us, we know the familiar butterhead lettuce, or simply “salad”. Romaine is also a type of lettuce. Iceberg lettuce is a remarkable head lettuce, incredibly juicy and crisp, and an invariable part of the famous Big Mac. In Chinese cooking, the thick stems of a celery and lettuce hybrid are a staple of many dishes.

A green salad with corn and beans needs a dressing, since almost all the ingredients have a neutral taste. As an acquaintance of mine says, you can eat anything if it is dressed with mayonnaise, and plenty of it. I won’t judge, but in any case mayonnaise is a very common base sauce, and other sauces can be made from it. You can make a base like homemade mayonnaise in a few minutes by whisking a chicken egg yolk and gradually adding vegetable oil, which is how you make aioli sauce. From there you can let your imagination run: the base goes with many additions that make the sauce unique.

More with beans

Vinegret Beet Salad

45 min

Piyaz (Turkish White Bean Salad)

1 h 30 min

Mexican Red Bean Salad with Corn and Ham

30 min

Warm Bean and Chicken Breast Salad

Ingredients

2 servings

For the salad
Iceberg lettuce 1 head
Canned red beans 150 g
Canned sweet corn 150 g
Red sweet onion 1
White wine vinegar 1 tbsp
Parsley 2-3 sprigs
For the homemade mayonnaise
Egg yolk 1
Vegetable oil as needed
Vinegar or boiled water 1 tsp
For the dressing
Unseasoned homemade mayonnaise (or store-bought) 2-3 tbsp (29–43 g)
Pickled gherkins 4-5
Gherkin brine 1 tbsp
Table mustard 1 tsp (5 g)
Black pepper, sweet and hot paprika, dried aromatic herbs to taste

Step-by-step recipe

Turn on cook modeKeeps your screen from turning off while the recipe is open

Preparing the vegetables

Corn and bean salad is best made with juicy green salad leaves. Iceberg lettuce is ideal for this. It is sold as small round heads that look like young cabbages. Iceberg leaves are quite thick compared with ordinary lettuce or romaine, and incredibly juicy and crisp.
Small cans of sweet corn and red beans are available in stores. If you are making a larger batch of the salad, you can buy bigger cans. You can also boil dried red beans yourself. The salad needs sweet onion: one small onion for two servings. It is better if the onion is not too sharp.
Marinate the onion in wine vinegar. Peel the onion and slice it crosswise into very thin rings. Put the sliced onion in a small bowl or cup, add 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar, toss lightly and leave for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
Cut the iceberg lettuce. Wash the head. If needed, you can remove and discard the top leaves, which are often spoiled and dried out because lettuce keeps for a very short time. Cut the head with a sharp knife, not too finely, because the lettuce is juicy and will release a lot of moisture. It is enough to cut the iceberg like cabbage for bigos. Put the cut lettuce in a large bowl.

Dressing

Make the homemade mayonnaise. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk with a mixer or whisk. Keep whisking while adding the vegetable oil in small portions: the mixture emulsifies easily and quickly. Once it thickens, add 1 tsp of vinegar or boiled water to make the mayonnaise thinner. This is the base. If you prefer, you can simply use the amount you need of good store-bought mayonnaise.
Mix the dressing. To 2-3 tbsp of mayonnaise (29–43 g) add 4-5 finely chopped pickled gherkins, 1 tbsp of the brine, 1 tsp of table mustard (5 g) and a couple of pinches of a spice mix of black pepper, sweet and hot paprika and dried aromatic herbs. Whisk with a fork until smooth, and the dressing is ready.

Assembling the salad

Dress the iceberg with the corn. Add the canned sweet corn to the bowl with the cut lettuce, draining all the liquid from it well. Add the prepared dressing and mix. The salad needs no salt.
Divide the salad among individual salad bowls or small bowls, and add the beans and onion. Level the salad, making a small hollow in the center.
Put the canned or boiled red beans into the hollow, draining off the liquid. It is better to rinse canned beans with cold water, because the liquid in the can is thick, like jelly. You can rinse the pickled onion to remove any leftover vinegar, or, which is quite enough, just let the accumulated liquid drain off. Separate the onion into rings by hand and arrange them around the edge of the bowl.

Serving

Decorate the salad. If you like, sprinkle it with a pinch of the spice mix used for the dressing. Garnish with sprigs of parsley, or pick the leaves off the sprigs and scatter them over the salad.
Serve right away: the salad is already dressed and shouldn’t stand for long. Just before eating, toss the salad so all the components are evenly distributed.
A tasty and juicy corn and bean salad is a great appetizer with a spicy flavor. It goes well with an aperitif. I think that with toasted bread or bruschetta, a good breakfast is guaranteed. Besides, making croutons and toast takes no longer than making the salad.

Calories and macros

340 kcal

Serving ≈ 480 g

Protein13 g16% of kcal
Fat16 g46% of kcal
Carbs30 g37% of kcal

100 g71 kcalProtein 2.7 gFat 3.4 gCarbs 6.2 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

Enjoyed the recipe? Pick me as a preferred source on Google, and you'll see my recipes more often in search. Choose on Google →

How did you like this recipe?

Thanks for rating!