Napa Valley Cottage life and Fresh Chopped Salad

Napa Valley is a place I would love to visit. Tour the gorgeous vineyards, sample wonderful wines and stay in beautiful bed and breakfasts. These are photos from a cottage in Napa Valley - my kind of cottage! I could live in this shower all summer...

I love the photo above, a touch of roughness. Beautiful. I could picture making this salad in that kitchen. My mom brought it over one summer evening a couple of weeks ago, it was so delicious!!!! So refreshing for summer. You can serve it over tortilla chips or just eat it as a salad like we did. Enjoy your cottage if you have one. If not, make this salad and enjoy your own personal summer surroundings. Bon appetit!

¼ cup olive oil ½ tsp. minced jalapeno

2 ears of corn, husked 2 cups diced sweet peppers

3 small tortillas cut into ¼ inch strips 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes

¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice 2 cups canned black beans….rinsed and drained

3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro 1 avocado..pitted and diced

1 tsp. brown sugar 2 celery ribs, diced

1 tsp. chopped garlic

Place tortillas on baking pan and bake until tortillas are crispy and golden brown.

Cook corn on the cob and cool and then cut corn kernels from the cobs and set aside.

Dice peppers, slice tomatoes and chop cilantro.

Put peppers, tomatoes, black beans and corn in large bowl plus celery if using.

In blender, combine olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, sugar, garlic and jalepeno and puree until smooth to make vinaigrette.

Toss veggies with the vinaigrette. Add avocado and gentlyl toss again. Serve garnished with tortilla chips.

ENJOY!!!!!

~photos from House Beautiful, recipe from my mom, Linda

Peach Salsa

I know, I know, ANOTHER salsa recipe.  But it's a great way to take advantage of all the wonderful fresh produce in the summer.  On our holidays, my parents bought 80 pounds of peaches and we were the recipient of a few of them.   So I made salsa!  This is a recipe my sister gave me a couple years ago and it's so delicious.

~ 2 cups chopped fresh (or frozen, thawed) peaches

~ 1/4 c. finely chopped red bell pepper

~ 2 to 4 Tbsp. grapefruit juice (I used pineapple juice)

~ 4 tsp. chopped fresh cilantro

~ 2 medium green onions, chopped (2 Tbsp.)

~ Dash of salt

(I also added a touch of lime juice)

Mix all ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour to blend flavours.

My aunt and cousin threw a wonderful bridal shower for my sister a few years ago and they had the fantastic idea to have a salsa bar.  It was so delicious!  You can use this peach salsa and this one and this one and have your own salsa bar!  Feel free to send me YOUR favourite salsa recipes, jzmgirlz@gmail.com. 

~ From the kitchen of Leah C.

What I'm snacking on right now...Pico de Gallo

I absolutely LOVE salsa, in case I haven't said it before. Not long ago, I posted a recipe for Mango Salsa, click here for that recipe, and now I'm posting one of my faves, Pico de Gallo! I am eating it with nacho chips...not so healthy. But you could use pita chips, that would be yum!

Here is the super easy how-to:

~ 4 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
~ 1/2 med. white onion, diced

~ 1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

~ 1/4 c. fresh lime juice

~ 1/2 c. finely chopped fresh cilantro

Course salt and fresh ground pepper

Combine all ingredients, let stand at least 30 minutes. Store in fridge up to 3 days.

Mango Salsa

This salsa is refreshing and healthy!

~ 1 ripe mango, peeled and ½-inch diced
~ ¼ cup chopped scallion, green part only
~ ¼ cup diced red bell pepper
~ 1 tablespoon finely diced fresh jalapeno
~ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
~ 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
~ ¼ teaspoon salt
~ ½ teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let sit in fridge for an hour or so before eating. Serve with nacho chips or pita chips. This would be delicious with fish for dinner as well!