Cowboy Salsa

Who couldn't use an easy tailgating/appetizer recipe? The folks at Red Gold Tomatoes were kind enough to share this one with us---Cowboy Salsa!

It starts with a can of tomatoes!

Cowboy Salsa

Printable Recipe

Servings: 10   |   Preparation Time: 20 minutes   |   Cook Time: 0 minutes

1 (15 ounce) cans black eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1  (14.5 ounce) can Red Gold® Petite Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies or 1 (14.5 ounce) can Red Gold®Petite Diced Tomatoes w/Lime Juice & Cilantro

1 (14.5 ounce) can whole kernel corn

1 jar pimentos

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped green bell pepper

1 (8 ounce) bottle Italian salad dressing

In a large bowl combine all ingredients; stir to blend. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Serve with crackers or chips.

NUTRITIONAL FACTS PER SERVING

Calories 130, Fat 5.00g, Trans Fat 0.00g, Cholesterol 0.00mg, Sodium 750.00mg, Carbohydrate 18.00g,

Fiber 4.00g, Protein 5.00g, Vitamin A 10%, Vitamin C 35%, Calcium 4%, Iron 8%

Ok--I admit to changing things up, but just a tad. I subbed out the black-eyed peas for black beans. :) Actually, you could use the regular diced tomatoes and add some fresh cilantro and lime, if you were so inclined, but, why not just keep it easy--this is delicious! Seriously, just mix it all up in a bowl and let it marinate for a few hours. I promise, this will be the hit of your party.

If, by some rare chance, there are leftovers, simply tuck some into a warm tortilla for a quick lunch....

......or, if you are like me and you just love breakfast for dinner, top that tortilla with a couple of eggs....so, so good!

Disclaimer: Red Gold Tomatoes provided me with some product and the recipe to share. All opinions  remain my own.

Tomato, Corn, and Black Bean Soup

Look at what I got in the mail:

A six pack!

Of tomatoes!

Red Gold Tomatoes sent me such a cute little sampler of their tomato products to try that I wasn’t quite sure what to make with them first, but a quick glance out the window helped me to decide.

Soup! It’s downright wintery out there!  Unbeknownst to the Red Gold peeps, I actually had a can of their tasty tomatoes in my cupboard, so I’m saving the sampler pack for some other quick tomato meals. Stay tuned for those. In the mean time, let’s cook some soup.

I am not a fan of most canned soup, I’ll have you know. Frankly, I’m not quite sure of what’s in it. Usually, there’s too much salt. Sometimes, there’s stuff like corn syrup and fillers. And if your argument to me is that canned soup is convenient, then I will counter that with the fact that making your own soup is almost as easy.  Check it out—I did this on the fly, with some things I had in the cupboard (and the freezer).

Tomato, Black Bean, and Corn Soup
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ large, sweet onion, chopped

2 cups frozen corn (fire-roasted, if available)

1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes, chopped, with liquid

1 (15-19 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups vegetable stock

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Lower the heat to medium and add the garlic, onions and corn. Sauté until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, beans vegetable stock, chili powder and Italian seasoning. Stir well and bring mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer soup for 20 to 25 minutes.  Serve the soup hot; garnish with crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese, if desired.

I chose to use some fire-roasted frozen corn that I had in the freezer. It added just a hint of smokey flavor.

Canned tomatoes make easy work out of soup—of this I am a great fan. Good, fresh tomatoes are hard to find this time of year (not to mention, pricey), so canned tomatoes are a must. The thing is, they work in so many things. Besides soup, you can sub canned tomatoes for fresh in spaghetti sauce, on pizzas, and in casseroles. My mother-in-law likes to take a can of stewed tomatoes and use them as gravy over mashed potatoes.

So why Red Gold brand tomatoes? It really wasn't a fluke that that was the brand in my cupboard. The Red Gold company is a third generation family owned company out of Indiana. They started in 1942 and all they do are tomatoes. They know their stuff! Red Gold is located right in the middle of tomato country and I've found all of their tomato products to be of stellar quality. But, I digress. Let's get back to my soup.

This was tasty just the way it was, but I felt it needed just a little something.

How about using all of those crushed tortilla chips at the bottom of the bag? It's a shame to waste them, even if they aren't so good at scooping anymore.

Now, just add some shredded cheese and you are good to go.

See? Wasn't that easy? And now that all of my soup is gone, I've got some ideas for the rest of those cans. Next up on the menu: Cincinnati Chili Pizza. 

Is there something special you make with canned tomatoes?

Disclaimer: I received free product from Red Gold Tomatoes in order to do this review. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

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Homemade Veggie Burgers...and a winner!

Homemade Veggie Burgers...

First a big WootWoot to LadyTink_534, aka Jen, the winner of the Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour giveaway. Jen will receive a VIP coupon for a free bag of the flour, a set of recipe cards, and a nifty blue Gold Medal cookie jar! Jen, let us know how your snickerdoodles turn out using the white whole wheat flour.

You all may remember me talking about how my daughter, Taylor, is a vegetarian. The phase that I thought she would outgrow has turned into a permanent lifestyle change and, while I remain a true carnivore, I gladly embrace most of the food that she now prefers. Good food is good food, after all. Now, my husband has seen how healthy former President Bill Clinton is looking these days (rumor has it he had become a vegan), and has decided to jump on the "mostly" vegetarian bandwagon. I really have to go with the flow here....

This weekend, I had a request from Taylor for some homemade food. As a poor college student (that dang chemistry book was $400!), she has been existing on ramen noodles. She specifically requested a couple of homemade pizzas--one veggie for her, and one pepperoni for the boyfriend--and some veggie burgers. The veggie burgers are a relatively new invention of mine. They even have a secret ingredient. Care to wager a guess? No? OK, then. I'll spill the beans. Pun intended. :)

The soup adds some liquid and some flavor to the veggie burgers.

Homemade Veggie Burgers

Printable Recipe

4-6 tablespoons olive oil for frying 1 cup chopped onions 1 cup chopped red bell pepper 2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 cup fresh or frozen sweet corn 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 (19 oz) can ready-to-serve lentil soup 2 eggs, slightly beaten 2 cups fresh spinach leaves ¾ cup Panko bread crumbs 2 cups quick cooking oatmeal 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Turn down the heat to medium, and add the onions and peppers, then saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, corn, and garlic, then continue to cook until the mushrooms are softened and browned, 5-6 minutes. Stir in the corn. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Reserve skillet for sauteing the burgers. While the vegetables are cooking, place the black beans in a large bowl and mash slightly with a fork. Stir in the can of lentil soup and the beaten eggs. Add the vegetables and the spinach and stir to combine.

Combine the oatmeal, breadcrumbs, and seasonings in a medium bowl. Add to the lentil and bean mixture, mixing well. To form the patties, line a custard cup with plastic wrap, leaving an overhang and fill with the bean mixture. Carefully pull the bean mixture out of the custard cup and fold the plastic wrap over the top to form into a patty. Repeat until 12 patties are formed, leaving wrapped in the plastic until ready to cook (you may freeze the patties at this point). Add a tablespoon of oil to the skillet and heat over medium high heat. Unwrap 2-3 bean patties and carefully add to the heated skillet. Reduce the heat to medium low and fry for about 5 minutes per side, or until browned and cooked through. Repeat for the remaining burgers, adding additional oil to the skillet, if needed. 

I chose the red bell pepper for some color. Feel free to use green instead.

I used Trader Joe's Roasted Sweet Corn...because I like it. :)

Instead of canned black beans, I cooked my own. The only problem was that they were a little hard, so I pulsed them in a food processor. All was good.

Here's where I could have added a slew of fresh herbs...but I didn't have any. Feel free.

Isn't this a clever way of forming the patties? No fuss, no muss.

I filled them almost to the top and got 12 patties.

At this point you can freeze the patties. Once they are frozen, they are easier to handle. When I fry them from frozen, I put a lid on the pan so that they cook through.

Of course, I toasted the bun with a little butter, then I spread some basil/tomato hummus on the bottom bun and topped it with some fresh spinach.

Have you seen the Pretzel Buns at Trader Joe's? Yum!

You can add whatever toppings you love. I used some prepared Taboule that I bought at Costco.  MMM...tomatoes, onions, parsley, cracked wheat, seasonings, olive oil....this was great on the burger.

The bottom line is that these veggie burgers are tastier and far more economical that the ones you find frozen  at the store. In fact, the husband is wanting me to make a second batch for our own freezer....they must be good!

In The Soup.....

I have never felt a change of seasons quite as rapidly as this one. It seems as though autumn appeared overnight. And while I still consider this time of year to be my favorite, I have to say enough is enough with the cold rain. Blech. There is one thing that makes me feel better when it’s nasty out……soup! You can call it stew or bisque or chili or even “stoup” (hate that one), they all mean warm, comfort food.

Two things happened last week to make for a soup extravaganza at my house. First, my co-worker, Brenda brought me another boatload of tomatoes (love that picture--it was from the first batch). Second, we had the challenge going on at BakeSpace that I mentioned in my last post--- I had the pleasure of picking out a recipe from Chris Coyle’s (Tyler’s Aunt) kitchen---and I chose to do her lentil soup. Here is the recipe as Chris wrote it:

Lentil Soup


• 2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1-2 Cloves minced garlic
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 3-4 stalks celery, chopped
• About 2/3 bag of lentils - rinsed and checked for stones
• Water
• 2 cans beef broth
• Salt and pepper
• Dried dill
• 2 cans chopped tomatoes - I prefer the Delmonte Mexican Blend
• **Diced smoked ham if available - or a drop or two of Liquid Smoke

Sauté the garlic, onions and celery in olive oil until tender. Add the lentils and water just to cover. Add the beef broth, salt, pepper and 2 Tbsp dill; let simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and ham or liquid smoke. Once the ham and tomatoes are heated through, adjust dill to taste. Add broth/water if you want your soup thinner.

When serving, sprinkle additional dill, or float a sprig of fresh dill on top

** For the ham, I prefer a Morel E-Z Cut. Although the price keeps going up, this is definitely my favorite ham. Whenever we make it, I use the leftovers for the soup.



I’m kind of terrible at following recipes (even my own). The trouble is, I’m always out of one thing or another and end up making substitutions. So, I started out just fine with the olive oil, garlic, celery and onions. But then I had just a handful of carrots that were starting to dry out and I threw those in, too. Lentils? Check. Beef broth? Check. Dill? Oops. Shoot, no dill. Hmmm…what to use? Ah, how about some Italian seasoning? Yup, that looks good. Oh, and there are some bay leaves that I just bought. Let’s throw a couple of those in there.

As for the tomatoes, well, I had just roasted those beautiful tomatoes that I got from Brenda. A few turns in the food mill to shed the skin and the seeds and that went into the soup, too.

 No ham, either, but I did have the liquid smoke--two bottles, in fact. One of those things that you just don’t use that often and then forget you have, so you buy another one. Then, of course, I couldn’t top it with dill, so I used a little Parmesan cheese.

I have to say that this is one really good pot of soup. And I promise to use the dill next time! Thanks, Chris, for a fabulous recipe.

Since I still had a load of tomatoes, I made a pot of Turkey Chili with Black Beans on Sunday. My chili has always been pretty basic and this one was no exception. . First, I cooked my own black beans. My husband has a little issue with high blood pressure, so we want to make sure the sodium content is low. Then, I just sautéed, in olive oil, a chopped onion, and two cloves of crushed garlic.

I added one pound of ground turkey to this and fried it until it was no longer pink. Then I usually add two cans of whole tomatoes, but this time I used some of my freshly roasted tomatoes--I couldn’t even tell you how much, since I didn’t measure—and I added 2-3 tablespoons chili powder, 1 cup of hot picanté sauce, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Oh yeah, and about half of the cooked black beans (I froze the rest). I let all of this simmer for about 45 minutes.

Mmmm....hot, spicy Chili. Perfect for a crappy weather day!