Good morning! Happy Tuesday! Hoping your day is bright, colorful and fun like our recipe today!

First of all, I would love to thank my dear friend Maribeth Schmidt for her beautiful photography for this post! I cook, she clicks! And her work is simply beautiful! If you would like to see more of her work or make an inquiry, you can visit her at Maribeth Schmidt Photography.

If you remember last week I presented you with the Turtle Pie recipe… if you missed it, go back and check it out. It was one of my all time most popular posts! Being as it was a pretty decadent dessert, I thought I should switch gears to something a little more healthy this week, for balance!

So this week we have a lovely “flavo-packed” dish that can be served as a salsa or a salad, bursting with flavor and oh so easy! So lets get started!

• 1 medium red onion chopped (choose your favorite kind)
• 1 each red, orange, green, yellow pepper seeded and chopped
• 1 clove garlic chopped
• 4 red roma tomatoes chopped
• 1 small jalapeno seeded and chopped
• 2 Tbsp green onions chopped for garnish if desired
• 1 avocado diced
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn
• 1 cup black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 small handful of cilantro chopped (can reserve small portion for garnish if desired)
• 1 Tbsp zest from lime
• Juice from 1 lime
• 2-3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt

Chop all your ingredients, note if you intend to serve as leftovers on day 2, I would simply add the avocado as a garnish on top and just add more fresh the next day. Avocado tends to get brown after a day or so. But if you are eating it right away, then by all means add it in!

Notice how I scored the avocado, and then you simply use your knife to loosen the fruit from the side of the skin, and gently combine it in.

I used red onion but you could use whatever kind you like.

Note if you are using frozen corn, its perfectly fine to prepare this while the corn is still frozen. It will not take long for it to thaw (maybe 15 minutes), and should be fine by the time you are ready to serve it.

Also, if you are not a fan of cilantro, that’s ok! You can substitute in something like a smaller amount of chopped fresh parsley, or basil, or even celery leaves! I have even heard of using a small amount of chopped kale! (the person said they were sneaking it in to get their family to eat it, and they never noticed!) You could also season with a little bit of cumin as well.

Gently combine all of your ingredients in a bowl reserving the salt and oil. Then add the salt and oil and gently stir until all is coated with the dressing.  Now put in a lovely bowl and serve!

It can stand alone as a flavor packed salad,

Or it is great as a salsa or dip with chips!

Each ingredient in this beautiful salsa/salad shines like its own precious flavor packed jewel!

By simply coming alongside one another, these tasty jewels work together to form something

Truly Wonderful! Alone they are a delicious melody, but put them together and its like a symphony of flavor!

There are so many ways you could use this recipe! You could spoon it on top of a piece of chicken, steak or fish! Or on a baked potato! You could zip up your scrambled eggs with a spoon of this on top! You could add it to a grilled chicken salad! Its perfect as a salad on its own or as a delicious colorful dip! Tailgate parties! Potlucks! Or your “go to once a week” for a freshtastic appetizer!

Notice the words “gently combine” come up in this recipe as they do in so many wonderful summertime recipes! Its a great instruction for me in life as well! Just as so many flavors come together in this salad, we can enjoy spending time with others who may be quite different from ourselves! And it can be fascinating! I love when I get to spend time with someone either younger or older than myself to learn things from their perspective!

I was chuckling to myself this morning as I imagined a discussion between the ingredients of the salad. “Why hello there! My name is Roma, Roma Tomato.” “Howdy do! I’m Corn, but you can call me Corny!”

You have something to offer everyone in this world! You are an amazing person, and all people would love to get to know you! And vice versa, there are some great people out there who are downright fascinating! Like a flavor-packed black bean corn tomato avocado onion cilantro pepper jalapeno  salad, its fun to mix it up with folks from lots of different corners of the garden! Its like life in fiesta mode! You never know where you might meet someone absolutely amazing! Could be on the bus, in line at the grocery store, maybe a person on your street you’ve not met yet. Who knows! But it all starts with a smile and eyes that meet and that simple word “hello”.

And when we live a bold and flavorful life like that,  its absolutely delicious!

Have a great week! I will be back Friday for another Fashion Friday!

Love Always,

Amy

“A simple “hello” can lead to a million things.”    ~ unknown