Black Bean Salsa - Yummy Stuff

I was standing in my pantry Friday night trying to figure out what to fix for dinner. I haven't done my regular grocery shopping due to the kitchen project so the pickings were kinda slim. I found a can of black beans and noticed there was a recipe on the label for Black Bean Salsa. I had most all of the ingredients and I decided to give it a try.

I didn't have fresh tomatoes so I substituted canned diced tomatoes and they worked rather well.

Here is what you need:

• 15 oz canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 6 oz canned yellow corn, drained and rinsed (The recipe called for 12 oz, but that seemed like too much so I cut it in half and used the other 6 oz as a side dish.)
  
• 2 cans diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed (use fresh when in season)
  
• 1 small onion, Chopped fine (It called for red onions but any onion will work.)
  
• 1 tsp lime zest (This was not on the original recipe, but it seemed a shame to waste the zest.)
  
• 1/4 cup(s) fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste

Drain and rinse black beans, corn and tomatoes.
Place all in a bowl.
Add cumin and mix
Zest the lime and add to the bowl
Juice the lime and add to the bowl
Mix and allow to set so the flavors will blend.

I used this as my main dish just because it tasted so good, but it is actually a great salsa with chips or baked pita chips. We are invited to a get together this afternoon and I'm thinking I might just make this to take with us. Tortilla chips, a little sour cream on the side and this salsa. Sounds like a party to me. I'm hungry already.

Later
D

PS: If you are on Weight Watchers 1/2 cup = 2 points. But don't forget the chips and sour cream count separate.

Food & Family

I subscribe to a lot of cooking and recipe newsletters. America's Test Kitchen, Cooking.com, All Recipes just to name a few. But perhaps one of the most helpful is from Kraft Foods Food & Family. What I like about this cooking magazine is that it offers recipes for things I have on hand in my pantry. The fall edition arrived today and there are some delicious looking dishes on it's pages. To be honest you can find the tasty yet higher fat recipes, but there are also healthy dishes as well. This is a well rounded magazine that has an entire section of healthy recipes.

You can sign up to receive the magazine free at their web site. You can also view it on line by clicking on the picture of the magazine.

I love getting free stuff. Hope you do too.

Later
D

Wedding Gifts

Wow, in the last two years we have seen a lot of friends and family get married. So much so I'm running out of ideas for wedding gifts.

I like to get them something from their gift registry, but I'd also like to give them something personal that would also be useful. Recently I was reading Mary Hunt's Everyday Cheapskate newsletter and browsed her web site Tips and found a reader tip for creating a recipe book as a wedding gift. The reader was creating a wedding gift for her granddaughter, by gathering recipes from the family and using her computer to include a picture of person who originated the recipe. She then put the recipe cards in to sheets of a photo album.

What a wonderful way to pass along family recipes but to keep the memory family and friends that may no longer be with us.

I think I'm going to start this process now and have it ready for the next wedding.

Have a great Tuesday.
Later
D