Black Bean and Mango Salsa

1 (15.5 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 medium mango, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)

½ cup diced red onion (about ½ medium onion)

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

2 tsp. red wine vinegar

½ tsp. sugar

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. kosher salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1 medium avocado, diced

In a large bowl, combine the beans, mango, onion and cilantro.

In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Stir to dissolve the sugar and then pour over the black bean mixture.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

When ready to serve, gently fold in the diced avocado.  Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe can be found in "Our Best Bites", page 13

Avocado Mango Salsa

1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced

1 lime, juiced

1 mango - peeled, seeded and diced

1 small red onion, chopped

1 habanero pepper, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

salt to taste

Place the avocado in a serving bowl, and mix with the lime juice. Mix in the mango, onion, habanero pepper, cilantro and salt.

This recipe can be found here.

Cowboy Caviar

1 can black beans
1 can white beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 can sweet corn
5 tomatoes, diced
1/2 large red onion
1 jalapeno
1 cup roughly chopped cilantro

dressing:
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, finely diced
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon honey
salt & pepper, to taste

Open cans of beans and corn. Drain using a colander and rinse well. Pour into large bowl. Add in tomatoes, onion, jalapeno and cilantro. Stir.

In a small bowl, whisk all ingredients for dressing together and pour over bean mixture. Stir to coat. Taste and adjust seasonings. The longer this sits, the better. Serve with tortilla chips.

This recipe can be found here.

Chili Deviled Eggs

6 hard-boiled eggs, halved

2 Tbsp salsa

1 Tbsp mayonnaise

1 tsp onion, minced

1 tsp cilantro, finely chopped

1/8 tsp pepper

Remove yolks from eggs, reserving whites.

Mash yolks in small bowl.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

Fill whites with yolk mixture.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Serve chilled.

Bissara (Fava Bean Dip)

Approximately 1 cup shelled fava beans

Zest and juice of one lemon

Few tbsp. of olive oil, to get your preferred dip consistency

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

Few sprigs of cilantro

1 jalapeno

1 clove of garlic

Salt to taste

Steam cook (or sauté) the fresh fava beans for about a minute along with garlic and jalapeno.

Place them in a blender/food processor along with other seasoning, blend them and with a running motor add some olive oil until it reaches your desired dip consistency.

Add salt to taste.

Spicy Sun-dried Tomato Hummus

2 cans garbanzo beans or chickpeas (rinsed and drained)

1 jar (7oz.) sun-dried tomatoes

2/3 Cup Water                        

3 Tbsp. Olive Oil

2 garlic cloves halved

½ tsp. Salt

½ tsp. pepper

1 Tbsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (THE KICK)

     *if you don't too much spiciness, only use 1/2 Tablespoon

Directions:

1. Put everything in Food Processor

2. Process on High till smooth.

Holiday Bacon Appetizers

Ingredients
1 package Club Crackers
1 pound Thin Sliced Bacon (or More Depending On Number Of Crackers)
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Optional Alternative: Brown Sugar Instead Of Parmesan Cheese

Preparation Instructions
Lay crackers (as many as you want) face up on a cookie sheet.
Scoop about 1 teaspoon of grated Parmesan cheese onto each cracker. Cut your package of bacon in half (or cut pieces individually) and carefully, so the cheese doesn’t fall off, wrap each cheese covered cracker in one half piece of bacon, completely covering the cracker. It should fit snugly around the cracker.
Place the bacon wrapped crackers onto a baking sheet that has a rack on it.

Place in a 250-degree oven for about 2 hours.

You can make them way ahead of time, then store them in a large Ziploc in the freezer. Then, when you’re ready to serve them, just thaw and warm in the oven for about 10 minutes.

This recipe was found here.

Cheese Puffs

2 (5 oz.) jars sharp cheese spread

1 stick margarine

1½ cups flour

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Dash cayenne pepper

Blend cheese and margarine.  Add flour and seasonings and mix well.

Roll into small balls and refrigerate several hours.

Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until slightly brown.

These may be frozen or refrigerated for some time before baking.

Hummus

3 cans of garbanzo beans

3 cloves of garlic

½ cup lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

cumin

cayenne pepper

Jalapenos

¾ cup water

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup water

Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans.  Place the beans, garlic, lemon juice, spices, jalapenos and ¾ cup water in food processor.

Begin processing and slowly add olive oil.  Follow up with ¼ cup more of water.

Refrigerate.