My Signature Summer Dish

This summer Suzanne and I split a weekly farm share from Avalon Farms. Every Thursday we got a batch of freshly picked veggies and fruit, whatever was in season that week. It was a fun surprise to open the cooler and see what we got! Although, I could have done without the several weeks that we received large quantities of beets. We've been doing a lot of traveling on the weekends this summer. In fact, there was only one weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day that all three of us were in Kalamazoo for the entire weekend. Whew! So having the farm share come on a Thursday was a bit inconvenient, and I'm hoping to find one next summer that comes earlier in the week.

However, all of these social engagements have provided ample opportunity for me to bring a dish to pass, and my go-to dish has been black bean, corn and tomato salad, made with veggies from my weekly share. I combined Rachel Ray's recipe with one that a friend gave me, and it is pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself! :)



Jess' Black Bean, Corn and Tomato Salad

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3-4 ears of fresh corn
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 of a red onion chopped (or some green onions, or a white onion, it just depended on what was in the share that week)
1/2 pint (or more, depending on your mood) grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp hot sauce (I use Frank's b/c we always have some on hand)
1 lemon or lime, juiced (I cheated and used the already squeezed lemon juice!)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup olive oil

Remove corn from cobs and sautee with butter until cooked.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Enjoy!