Adrienne’s Famous Bean Salsa

I’m not sure how long my sister-in-law, Adrienne, has been making this bean salsa for my family. I’ve been out of state for a while so I haven’t been savvy to who brings what side dishes to gatherings. But everyone in our family knows about it so it’s probably been a while.

All I know is that when hubby and I moved back to NY this summer, she invited us to join her and my brother at her parents’ cottage on the lake for an afternoon. We were sitting on the patio in the shade, watching boats go by and sipping cold beer. Hubby and I had just eaten lunch so we weren’t particularly hungry, and we pretty much ignored the bean salsa that was sitting on the table. For a little whole.

Then, during a lull in the conversation, I picked up a tortilla chip and scooped some out.

Then I couldn’t stop, even though I was full. So nummy. Scoop after scoop.

Afterwards, I wanted it again, but didn’t want to make it just for hubby and I because I knew that it makes a lot. And it’s one of those recipes that’s very difficult to halve because you’re using a can of beans here, a can of corn there, an envelope of seasoning there, etc.

But then Adrienne invited some people over. Now was my chance! It’s a little silly to bring over someone’s own recipe, but I did it anyway.

Here are my ingredients:

Start with the green bell pepper.

Dice it up, and then do the same with a sweet onion.

And then a couple tomatoes.

Next, open up cans of black beans, black eyed peas, and corn. Drain and rinse, then add to the diced veggies.

Then take a tablespoon of minced garlic. This took me forever to prepare, peeling and mincing a ton of small cloves. Better than the stuff from a jar, though.

Plop it on top of everything else.

Oh, and then cut open a lime

And squeeze it over the whole thing.

Now for some seasonings… Oregano…

Basil (from the tube in my fridge)…

And cilantro (also from a tube).

Finally, in a little bowl, combine some olive oil…

and vinegar (I wasn’t sure what kind, so I used white wine vinegar)…

and a packet of Italian dressing mix.

Mix it up, and pour on top of the salsa!

And with that, you’re done!

Chill it for a few hours, then serve with tortilla chips.

It’s so addicting. Seriously. The dressing mix tenderizes the veggies and makes such a delicious flavor. You’re supposed to drain before serving, but I happen to love the Italian dressing/ veggie juice mixture sitting at the bottom of the bowl, so I didn’t.

So when can I have this again?

Farfalle with Gorgonzola, Arugula, and Cherry Tomatoes

In my last post, I made ravioli with arugula and served a salad with crumbled gorgonzola cheese in it. I had a lot of those key ingredients left over and didn’t know what to do with them. I don’t have any recipes that call for arugula, and I had a ton of it left over. And I didn’t know what to do with the cheese, either. I would have been open to putting the cheese on my salads until it was gone, except that was boring. I’d already been doing that for two or three days and was bored of it.

Google is my friend. I found this recipe in the New York Times archives and decided to make it. I didn’t have fresh cherry tomatoes, but I did have canned diced tomatoes and unlike all the uppity commenters on the original recipe, I wasn’t mad at the poster for sharing a recipe that I didn’t have the ingredients for (apparently it’s insensitive to post a recipe that calls for fresh tomatoes in January). So I decided to make it with some substitutions.

But I am a good wife so I made garlic breaded chicken, too, so hubby could have meat with his meal. Here it is ready to go in the oven. Forgot to take a finished picture later.

Step one: boil some bow-tie pasta.

Put your gorgonzola cheese in a pan.

Add half-and-half

And stir it over heat until the cheese melts. I guess it’s okay for the sauce to be chunky, as long as it’s warm and gooey and a lot of the cheese melts.

When you’re satisfied with the creamy, cheesy sauce, pour it over the pasta that you’ve drained but forgotten to take a picture of.

Add two cups of arugula and one cup of cherry tomatoes (or if you’re like me, just open a can of diced and use that instead). Also add some salt and pepper, too.

And serve! It’s that simple. I topped mine with some shredded Parmesan cheese.

My verdict: good… but it disappointed me a bit. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it was a little more. Then again, I thought the leftovers were amazing. It may have been a case of snacking too much while I was eating. In fact, I think it was. The dish has my favorite things – pasta, gooey cheese, greenery, and a lot of flavor. I think I’d like to try this again without sneaking crumbles of gorgonzola in the process.

If you make it, let me know how it went!