Black Bean & Corn Salsa

Hello friends!  When we last met, it was the dead of Winter here in Michigan and it was nearly unfathomable to me that Summer would ever come. By some miracle though, it did and is now upon us.  And so, I've decided to come out of hibernation and even try to start blogging some recipes again!  I know, I know.  Try to contain your excitement.

First up this Summer is a wonderful little salsa concoction that I whipped up last weekend.  This was inspired by a black bean and corn salsa that I've purchased previously but have never been able to find a recipe that is comparable.  So I decided to try and create my own.  I was quite pleased with how it turned out.  This would be a great appetizer for summer parties and barbecues!

Super Simple Rosemary Potato Naan Bread Pizza

Red Onion Rosemary Potato Naan Bread Pizza

Last Thursday, the southeast side of Michigan got hit with a particularly nasty storm leaving somewhere in the range of 100,000 people without power. I was one of those people. My mother was coming down for a quick visit to eat dinner and give me her cat to watch over for 2 weeks. My plan was to try out making Rosemary Potato Pizzas on Naan bread after Anne Marie and I had discussed what a wonderful pairing we thought this would make. By the time my mother arrived, the storm was in full effect, I had no power, and I was starting to think it might be a good night to get take-out. But I decided I wasn't going to let a little thing like not having power stop me from cooking. Luckily, I have a gas stove otherwise none of this would have been possible.

Weekend Tryouts: Cranberry Wasabi Trail Mix

 Trying a new recipe can sometimes be time-consuming, especially when working with unusual or unfamiliar ingredients. Most work weeks don’t leave me with lots of extra time to spend trying out new recipes so I end up just falling back on reliable classics. On the weekends, I usually make it a point to try at least one new recipe. I have more recipes than I know what to do with bookmarked online or in one of the many wonderful recipe books I have collected. My goal is to at some point try out every recipe I mark. Sometimes I follow the recipe by the letter, other times I simply use it as a basic guideline and make my own variation.

Inspired by this weekend activity, I’m introducing a new section on The Awesome Vegetarian called Weekend Tryouts. I will share a recipe with you that intrigued me. I’ll tell you any variations or adjustments that I made to it. Most importantly though, I’ll tell you if it was any good!

Quick & Easy Bruschetta

Bruschetta has become one of my staple appetizers to make for taking to a party, for entertaining, or just an awesome snack.

This is the very basic bruschetta recipe I use.  I've seen it done many other ways, but this is my go-to "can't eff it up" recipe that's sure to be a crowd-pleaser.