Core: Warm Black Bean and Corn Salad

I've been in a bit of a funk lately - a fog the last few days. Feeling behind, unorganized, can't think clearly. Just keeping head above water. That also means lots of blog posts stuck in the conceptual stage, not getting thought out or written properly. So in the meantime at least I can post recipes I promised.

Here's one of my favorite salads - fast, easy, flavorful, and most importantly to me in the winter - warm! It's really tough swallowing cold green salad when the temperature's below freezing. So serve this up with anything - rice, fish, chicken, or eat it plain. Pictured here with Trader Joe's flax seed chips though sadly they're not Core. Everything in the salad is, though, except the olive oil. I decrease it to about 1 T.
Warm Black Bean and Corn Salad

2 T olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
½ to 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (medium heat to extra spicy)
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
1 (10 oz.) box frozen corn kernels, defrosted (or kernels cut from about 4 ears fresh corn)
½ cup chicken stock or broth
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
Juice of 1 lime
2 to 3 T fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
6 cups baby spinach

1. Preheat a medium skillet over medium heat with 2 T olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.

2. To the cooked onions, add the bell pepper and corn kernels and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Add the black beans and cook until the beans are just heated through. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the lime juice, cilantro and spinach. Toss to wilt the spinach and then taste to adjust the seasoning.