Black Bean Salad (aka Crack Bean Salad)

This has come to be a fave staple for gatherings.... it's super easy and super yummy. Just ask Vickie.

1 block Kraft ex sharp cheddar
½ poblano pepper, roasted in olive oil
1 Lime
1 bunch cilantro
3-5 cloves garlic roasted
2-3 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
Salt and pepper to taste
Cumin (optional and to taste)

Place the poblano pepper and unpeeled garlic cloves in an oven safe bowl- cover with olive oil or veggie oil. Roast about 10-15 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool.

Chop cilantro and quarter the lime.

Mix the cilantro and black beans, squeeze lime quarters to add juice to bean mixture. Stir in salt and pepper and cumin if you opt to use it.

Cut the poblano peppers into fine bits. Use a garlic press to smash the garlic cloves. Mix in with bean mixture. Shred the block of cheese and mix into bean mixture.

TADA!!! You have black bean salad.

Soba-Noodle Salad

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Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1/4 cup rice-wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons tamari or low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 pinches cayenne pepper
• 4 tablespoons safflower oil
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 12 ounces soba noodles (not 100 percent soba)
• 1 green mango, peeled and julienned
• 1 large red pepper, stemmed, seeded, cored, and julienned
• 1 medium carrot, julienned
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh mint
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
• Lime wedges, for serving

*** I ADDED STUFF TO THIS AS WELL: JICIMA, ENDEMAME, CUCUMBER, CASHWEW NUTS.

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix together vinegar, ginger, tamari, fish sauce, lime juice, and cayenne pepper. Slowly whisk in oils until well combined; season with salt and pepper. Set dressing aside.
2. Fill a medium pot of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add soba noodles and cook according to the package directions, until al dente, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Transfer noodles to a large bowl and add mango, red pepper, carrot, scallions, mint, and basil. Season with salt and pepper; toss to combine.
4. Drizzle with dressing; you may not need to use all the dressing. Serve salad with lime wedges.

White Sangria

3 oranges, finely sliced 4 lemons, finely sliced 4 limes, finely sliced 1 1/2 c. sugar 1/2 c. tequila (I used Rum last Sunday. Both are good!) 1 bottle dry white wine, chilled 1 bottle champagne, chilled 2 c. club soda Place oranges, lemons, and limes in a large bowl, serving pitcher or jug. Pour the sugar over the fruit. Add the tequila to the fruit mixture and mix gently. Let soak overnight if possible, at least a few hours. Add lots of ice to punch bowl. Pour in white wine and right before serving, add champagne and club soda. Makes 12 to 14 drinks.

Spinach Dip

Here's another I've been known to make for a "party of one" or to share with a real party. This can be found on the back of a Knorr Vegetable Soup package, but in case you lose it, here you go:

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed (do not use fresh)
1 1/2 c. sour cream
1 c. mayonnaise
1 (4 oz.) pkg. Knorr vegetable soup mix
1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, finely chopped (I despise water chestnuts so I leave them out)
3 green onions, finely chopped (I use kitchen shears and snip these at quarter inch intervals)
Round loaf of pumpernickel or sweet Hawaiian bread (I use Hawaiian bread, never had it with pumpernickel)

NOTE: Spinach takes FOREVER to thaw so set it out in advance or put in the microwave but not for long.

Squeeze spinach until dry.
In medium bowl, stir together spinach, sour cream, mayo and soup mix.
Add finely chopped water chestnuts and green onions.
Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
Cut out the middle of the Hawaiian loaf to leave a shell to contain dip.
Use bread removed from shell and cut into bite size pieces.
Fill loaf with dip and place on platter and surround with bread pieces

Stuffed Jalapeños

Next is the bacon wrapped jalapeños:

12 jalapeños
1 8oz block of cream cheese
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tbls Cajun seasoning (such as Tony's)
1 package of bacon

Cut the jalapeños in half, removing the seeds.
Blend the cream cheese, garlic powder and Cajun seasoning.

Put cream cheese blend in a ziplock bag and cut off a corner. Use it to squeeze the blend into each jalapeño half.

Wrap each cream cheese filled jalapeño half in a slice of bacon. You can use half slices, but then the bacon doesn't want to stay on. You can rectify that by making sure your bacon ends meet and sticking a toothpick through.

Put the prepared jalapeños on the grill.

NOTE: If you're not inclined to fire up the grill just for these snacks, you can do it in the oven. However, you may want to cook your bacon a bit before you do that because if you put it in raw and don't take it out till the bacon is done, your cheese will burn.

Sausage Dip

Ok Gals, we all know I'm the queen of using bacon or sausage in my dishes so here's the first:


1 8 oz block of cream cheese
1 can drained Rotel tomatoes (whatever level of heat you like, I use original)
1 lb. Jimmy Dean "roll" of sausage (also whatever level of heat you like, I use Original)

Brown the sausage like you would hamburger meat. Drain the grease.
Combine cream cheese, sausage and Rotel. I put my cream cheese in the microwave and soften it up so it's easier to blend.

And that's it! Be careful of the highly addictive quality of this!

Quick and Dirty Book Club's Recipe Spot

So Vickie and I were chatting and we thought it would be a great idea to have a spot to share our recipes for the goodies we bring to Book Club so they're easily accessible and we can go to one spot. Jennifer also thought this was a good idea and when I emailed Susannah to ask her for a few of her recipes she suggested a Book Club Cook Book.

So I thought I'd make the leap and get this party started. Anyone who wants to share something yummy that they have brought to Book Club, or even if you find something delicious and want to post, let this be our place to convene on all the yummies we enjoy.

I'll get the party started with the Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe:

8oz pckg cream cheese
12oz bottle Frank’s Red Hot
16oz sour cream
1 dry ranch packet
2 c cheddar cheese
1 rotisserie chicken

Pick the chicken off the bone (cutting it up would be good too, I was just in a pinch for time yesterday) and lay it out in a casserole dish. Melt the cream cheese over medium heat and add the Frank’s Red Hot (yup, whole bottle!). Mix up your sour cream and ranch packet and add that to your hotsauce cream cheese mixture. Pour the hot sauce mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle cheddar over top. Bake at 350 till cheese is melted (5-10 minutes should do ya).

Yesterday was the first time I ate it with celery instead of chips and I think that’s my preference but either way, yum yum yum!

Enjoy ladies!