Southwestern Black Bean & Corn Salad

This is for Day 3 of 30 Days of Creativity and the theme is corn, so I chose to make a corn salad.  The recipe is based on this recipe at "Shannon Makes Stuff"; however I adapted it to use the full cans of corn, bean and tomatoes.

Recipe:

• 1 14-15 oz can whole kernel corn (drained)
• 1 14-15 oz can  black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 14-15 oz can diced tomato
• 2 tablespoon jalapeno pepper, finely diced
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 4 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 4 tablespoons vinegar (original calls for white vinegar, I used balsamic vinegar)
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all items together and allow to set in the fridge to marinate for at least two hours.  Can be served as a side salad or as a salsa with chips.  It starts out with a clean fresh taste tomato and corn taste then there is a mild kick due to the jalapenos and chili powder.

CHILI'S COPYCAT SALSA

This recipe does taste very similar to Chili's restaurant salsa.  It is a very minimalist salsa with few ingredients and surprising mild for containing so many jalapenos.  The lime juice in it gives it a fresh zing when combines with the tomatoes and compliments spicy dishes.  It is also quick and easy - takes around 5 minutes.

  

Recipe posted by kimboleyanne at Food.com  
 

Makes 6-8 servings  - original recipe Read more: here 

• 1 can (14 1/2-15 oz) diced canned tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons diced jalapenos (I used 2 fresh jalapenos)
• 1 TBSP lime juice 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 cup onion, diced - I used 1 small onion

Chop the jalapenos in half, remove the seeds and dice.

Peel onion and dice into pieces.

I used the juice of half of a lime, but you could use bottled lime juice.

Put the above ingredients in a food processor along with the salt and cumin, then open the can of tomatoes.

Run on high speed until pureed,  but still a little chunky (around 1 minute).

Store any unused portion in a glass jar in the fridge for about a week.






 

Myrtle Dip

See Myrtle Dip and 1000's of others - or share your own on Cut Out + Keep

This is from a site I follow,. One Particular Kitchen and called "Myrtle Dip" because it was created by the author's relative by that name.

It is easy because all you use is 3 items - cream cheese, a can of corn and a can of diced tomatoes.  For instructions, click here. 

It is tangier than nacho dip because cream cheese is used instead of cheddar. It also great if you have onion haters in the crowd as the corn gives it a bit of crunch without the aftertaste of onion.

Easy Cucumber, Tomato and Onion Salad

A crisp, sweet salad that only takes about 10 minutes to prepare and very low in calories if artificial sweetner is used.

Thankfully we have had unseasonably warm weather where I live which left me yearning for summer, so I made I made what is traditionally more of a summer salad to brighten up lunch.

This is based on a recipe at Recipezaar:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Easy-Cucumber-Tomato-and-Onion-Salad-82461

• 1 1/2 cups chopped cucumbers
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 6 packets artifical sweetener (or 3 TBSP Sugar)
• 1/2 cup vinegar 
• 1/2 cup water 
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed  

How you chop the cucumber and onion is a matter of preference; I usually cut lengthwise half, then each half in half horizontally.
 



Chop up cucumber












Chop up onion

Open up can of diced tomatoes, drain off excess liquid (I used Fiesta Mexican, which made it have a more hot and spicy flavor, but if you have never made anything like this before, you would probably want to just try plain diced tomatoes.

Combine cucumber, onion and tomatoes in large bowl

 In a separate bowl, add 6 packets of artificial sweetener (or you can use 3 TBSP of sugar)

 Add 1/2 cup water

Add 1/2 cup of vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)

 Add 1 tsp. of Dill

Mix water, vinegar and Dill together to make the dressing

 Pour the dressing over the cucumber mixture and toss until well coated, then refrigerate at least 2 hours (best if left to sit overnight).

Serve with at slotted spoon to drain excess liquid.

TOMATO & ONION SALSA

This recipe was inspirted by this post by at CO+K by Chelesa M. http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/best_salsa_ever This was super-easy with using the food processor to chop everything up. I varied my receipe slightly and used the following and it is more of an tomato and onion salsa than just tomato based and it was very mild. 1 can Rotel Tomatoes with Jalepenos 1 can Tomato Sauce 1 fresh tomato 3 cloves garlic 1 1/2 med. sized yellow onions 2 Tsp. Mexican Seasoning 1 TBSP lime juice 4 dashes Seasoned salt 1 handful of Cilantro

QUICK & EASY QUESO

I made this a late night movie snack between movies we were watching - it took less than 10 minutes. It is great if you want a quick warm snack on a cold night.

• 1 2lb pkg of Pasteurized Processesed Cheese Product (like Velveeta) - cut in half (use 1 lb)
• 1 can of Dices Tomatoes with Green Chile Peppers (like Rotel)

Optional

• 1 tsp Mustard or Worstecher Sauce or Ranch Dressing (depending on what your like)

Cut the cheese product in half - put one half away as you will only need 1 lb, unless you want it to be extra cheesy.

Cut up the half of the cheese you are going to use and melt it on low heat, stirring constantly for a few minutes.

Once the cheese is melted, open the can a tomatoes add them to the cheese and stir. If you choose to add any optional items, stir them in at this point also.

Remove from heat, pour into serving bowl and serve with tortilla chips.