Lunch: Cottage Cheese, Avocado, and Black Bean Salsa

Recipe by David Mengel This may look and sound sort of bad, but let me tell you, there isn't a tastier, nutritious, salsa-like dip to hold you over while you wait for dinner. Funny enough, this was created as an experiment with leftovers, and now I have

Ingredients

1 ear corn, husked and cleaned
1 (15 ounce) can reduced sodium black beans
1 (32 ounce) container 1% fat cottage cheese
1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and diced
2 roma (plum) tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 cups salsa
1 (13.5 ounce) package tortilla chips, if desired

Instructions

Place corn on the cob in a microwave safe dish with 1/4 inch of water. Cover, and microwave on medium high for 4 minutes, or until tender. Cool under running water, and slice kernels from cob. Set aside.
Cook the black beans in a small saucepan over medium heat until warm and tender, about 10 minutes. Strain, and rinse under cold water to remove liquid and excess sodium. Set aside.
Place the cottage cheese in a mixing or serving bowl. Peel, pit, and dice the avocado into bite size pieces, and add to the cottage cheese. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise, remove seeds, and dice into bite size pieces. Add to the cottage cheese along with the corn, black beans, and salsa. Stir until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with tortilla chips, if desired.