Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Black Bean, Corn and Feta Salsa

Our staff had a terrific potluck lunch on Friday, January 20th and April Cushing made this yummy salsa.  Terrific with whole wheat Tostitos.


Black Bean, Corn, and Feta Salsa
 
Stir together in bowl:
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can white shoepeg corn (drained)
1 small container feta cheese (crumbled)
1 bunch scallions (chopped)
 
Dressing:  (this makes about twice as much as you'll need, so you can either halve these amounts or use the leftover dressing for a salad.)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2-3 tbl granulated sugar (to taste)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
 
Chill for at least 2 hours before serving, then stir.  Serve with Scoops Tostitos (or whatever you prefer).
Enjoy!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Not Your Average Maple Vinaigrette

One of my favorite restaurants is Not Your Average Joe's in Needham Center.  I used to belong to a book group that we named Not Your Average Book Group and we met there for lunch one Saturday a month. We had some trouble getting a table once a few of us were in the restaurant and ready to start our discussion and Joe personally helped us out (spoke to his management) and gave us a $25 gift card.  Yay for corporate responsibility!

In any event, I met some friends there the other night and had a wonderful spinach salad with Maple Vinaigrette dressing.  It was so yummy that I asked for the recipe ... and the hostess gave it to me immediately.  What great customer service!  I converted the recipe with a little help from Excel. The original yield was 2.75 gallons of Lemon Herb Vinaigrette (and a portion of that)  to make 1.5 gallons of Maple Vinaigrette. Here is my result for both recipes in reasonable amounts to make 1-1/2 cup of Not Your Average Joe's Lemon-Herb Vinaigrette:

1/8 cup lemon juice
5/8 cup red wine vinegar
1T diced red onions
1T chopped garlic
1T pure clover honey
1-1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup smooth dijon mustard
1T curly parsley chopped
3/4 tsp fresh thyme chopped
1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp coarse ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1-1/8 cup 10% blend oil (10% is 10% canola oil and 90% extra-virgin olive oil)

Next, combine these ingredients to make the Not Your Average Joe's Maple Vinaigrette:

1-1/2 cups Lemon-Herb Vinaigrette
1-1/2 cups maple syrup
1/4 cup sherry wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
7/8 Tbsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. dijon mustard