Red White and GREEN

Ok, before you assume I mean green as in environmentally friendly, hear me out. This post is actually dedicated to a dear friend of mine. This friend happens to be a favorite of mine. But this friend isn't the most attractive friend on the outside. But since my mother raised me right and taught me not to judge people by their looks I gave this friend a shot many, many years ago and he's become a favorite. Now, I knew who this friend ever since I was a child but he just looked so disgusting that I just felt like he must be disgusting on the inside too. I'm glad as adults we get over our little hangups. Or at least we are supposed to. Who is my friend? It's a ripe avocado. Seriously, I LOVE avocados. I didn't start really liking them until about 5 years ago. Yummy.

So this weekend I made a really yummy Southwestern Black Bean Salad. You could also consider it a salsa too as I like to eat it with chips. But it's healthy and it tastes nice and light so it's perfect for a summer dinner. I made this for the first time on Friday for a BBQ over at Sabrina's house. Here it is, I'll give it to you straight and then let you know my revisions to it's preparation method.

1 15.5 ox can of black beans, drained and rinsed
9 oz frozen corn, thawed (I actually use 1 can of corn and it was fine)
1 tomato chopped
1 ripe haas avocado diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 green onion diced
1 lime juiced
3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs cilantro chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Ok, in a glass dish combine all ingredients EXCEPT avocado. Put in the fridge and let sit for 30 minutes. All the ingredients need to marry each others flavors. Pull out and dice avocado and mix in just before serving.

BRITTANY'S REVISIONS - I loathe raw red onion diced. I like the flavor but I hate the texture and crunch in my mouth. SO . . . in a blender or magic bullet, I put the olive oil, lime juice, red onion and cilantro together and I puree it. Then I add that to my corn, tomato, black bean mixture. It's still quite yummy.


Ok, I also LOVE fresh guacamole. Here's a quick 5 minute recipe.

3 avocados
1/2 packet of ranch dressing mix
2 limes

Combine all these ingredients and voile . . . easy guacamole and very tasty. I have another guacamole recipe that I got from my sister but it requires the whole gammet of items like anaheim peppers, jalepenos and onions. This is easier and it's quite yummy.

There you have it!! Happy 4th two days late.