This main dish salad from the December issue of High Five magazine is just gorgeous – bright indeed! The dominant colors of red and green would make it right at home in a Christmas holiday spread… or just make it any night with your kids!

Travis loved that the recipe involved kids every step of the way, including actions he’d never done before like washing the vegetables, chopping (!), and draining cans of beans. This was definitely a “next level” recipe in his cooking skills. I did a bit of the tough chopping (the green onions, cilantro, and spinach) ahead of time; judge accordingly for your kids.

Ingredients:

• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans
• 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans
• 1 (15-ounce) can corn
• 2 large red potatoes
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 bunch chopped cilantro
• 2 and 1/2 cups chopped baby spinach
• 1 (16-ounce) jar mild salsa

1. Adults: Ahead of time, cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender; let cool.
2. Drain and rinse the cans of beans. This was Travis’s first time using a can opener – he loved learning how the mechanism works! Use half of the beans for this recipe (about 1 and 1/2 cups) and reserve the remaining beans for another use.
3. Drain the corn.
4. Wash the bell pepper, then cut the bell pepper and the cooked potato into pieces. I let him help me with the knife the whole time, so couldn’t snap a picture, but he was so proud.
5. In a large bowl, combine the beans, corn, potatoes, bell pepper, green onions, cilantro, and spinach.
6. Stir in the salsa until well combined.

We served this over tortilla chips the first night for easy “nachos.”

It would also be great wrapped up in soft tacos…

…or served over scrambled tofu!