Gal Pal Recipe Share

If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times: What would we do without girlfriends?

Some require phone connections, with 600 miles between you. Others you get to see on a weekly basis. Regardless of how you connect to your gal pals, you always know they're right there for a phone chat, shopping trip, or hilarious game night.

And, if you have the mad cooking and baking skills of my friends, they're usually ready for a recipe share.

Today's recipe comes from my dear friend Amy, previously famous on this blog for her homemade eggnog (on my deathbed, I've requested that an IV bag of her holiday beverage be hooked up to my shrimpy veins).

Today, however, she's famous for the Black Bean and Corn Salsa pictured above. So simple. So versatile. And so very, very scrumptious.

While the obvious serving suggestion is with tortilla chips, this tasty salad/condiment goes well with most any savory dish. This weekend I enjoyed it atop a simple sweet potato saute (cubed sweet potatoes, onions, bell pepper, garlic, and chickpeas sauteed until browned).

So, how will you consume your Black Bean and Corn Salsa? Perhaps you're a chip dipper. Or a burrito-filler? Or maybe...just maybe...you like to eat it right out of the bowl with a spoon :)

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

(recipe from Amy)

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of shoepeg corn, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup red onion, finely diced
• 3/4 cup red or green bell pepper, diced
• 2 jalepeno peppers, diced
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 - 1/2 TBSP dijon mustard
• a dash of honey
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Combine corn, beans, onion, bell pepper, and jalepeno peppers in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mustard, honey, and parsley. Pour over veggies and stir to coat. Season with salt and pepper.