Table Talk - Southwestern Black Bean Salad

This week it was Amanda's turn to pick the recipe.  She picked a yummy, easy salad.  As usual I made a few minor adjustments. 

It's a really simple recipe.  I followed the recipe in using fresh corn and I agree that was important to the yummy outcome.  I cut the corn off the cob and cooked it in a bit of oil for about 6 minutes, just enough to make the corn really bright and just starting to brown.  I could just spell the carmalization when I pulled it off the heat.  Then I mixed the corn with a can of black beans (rinsed & drained) and about a cup of grape tomatoes cut in half.  I was supposed to use a tomato, cored, seeded & chopped medium.  But I forgot that I needed a tomato for this recipe and I ate all the ones I bought at the farmers market within two days of buying them.  I love, love fresh tomatoes.  I left out the cilantro because I'm not a huge fan and I didn't want to buy a full bunch for 3 tablespoons, since the rest would go to waste. 

The dressing is a bit of fresh onion, fresh lime juice, about a teaspoon of hot sauce, honey, salt & pepper.  The recipe called for scallions (not onions) but I had some sweet onions on hand so I used a bit of that (about 1/4 cup).  I was also supposed to use 1-1/2 teaspoons of minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, but I didn't want to open a whole can for 1-1/2 teaspoon, so I used hot sauce instead. 

I tossed the corn, beans and tomatoes with the dressing and then I folded in a diced avocado.  Yum!!

This took all of about 15 minutes, quick & easy.  I loved the fresh sweet corn flavor against the smooth, mild beans.  The dressing had just the right amount of heat, sweetness and tartness.  This is definitely one I have to make again. 

Check out Amanda's blog for the full recipe. 

Table Talk - Pasta Salad with Arugula & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

This time for our dinner group we made a pasta dish.  It is yummy!  It was pretty easy too.

I didn't worry too much about measuring things and I had to make a few substitutions - darn Wal-mart! 

First substitution - I used a sweet onion instead of a red onion.  I was buying sweet onion for another dish I was making but they only sold them (and the red onions) in bags.  I didn't need two bags of onions.  I didn't even need one, so I picked sweet onions for both dishes. 

Second substituition - I used a spinach, arugula mix because there wasn't any arugula alone.

Third substitution - I used parmesan cheese instead of provolone because Wal-mart didn't have any provolone and I had parmesan on hand. 

Other than cooking the pasta and mixing things up in different dishes you pretty much just throw all the ingredients in a dish and mix it up!

Yum!  Check out Jen's blog for the full recipe.