Total Success

Today was meat free Monday, so I wanted to make something unique and tasty - but vegetarian. After a trip to Trader Joe's I decided on veggie tacos. Here's what made up our veggie taco bar:

Flour Tortillas
"Mexican" shredded cheese
Cilantro Lime Basmati Brown Rice (say that 3 times in a row!)
Light Sour Cream
Lettuce
"Fried" onions and red peppers (basically sauteed in olive oil fast and hot)
Corn & Black Bean Salsa.

Everyone loved it. I was so happy! No one complained, everyone got what they wanted. It's was bliss. (sorry I have no pictures, the food flew by!)

Let me tell you about 2 main ingredients listed above -- the Cilantro Lime Basmati Brown Rice and the Corn & Black Bean Salsa.

The rice come from the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Cook Book. He has a recipe for "perfect" rice. I will admit right now, I didn't follow it. His recipe involves washing the rice, put it in boiling water, draining it and putting more water in. I have had difficulty with rice. I needed measurements. You won't hear me say that often. I stuck with the instructions on the bag - 2 cups water, 1 cup washed rice - and ran with it. It was perfect enough for me - given my past rice incidents. After cooking the rice I added zest from one lime, a bunch of chopped cilantro, lime juice from the zested lime and a little olive oil. Great. Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE loved it. Phew....

One more thing about rice. I always used brown. I see no reason for white - honestly. Brown rice still has the bran and SOME nutrients. White rice is just filler. I will always use brown when possible.

Corn & Black Bean Salsa. I love Salsa. I love love love salsa. In fact, I love it so much, much of my garden this summer is dedicated to growing the ingredients for salsa. I like it on chips. I like it on tacos. I love it on eggs. It's like the perfect condiment. I love traditional tomato salsa, I love tomatillo salsa. I love Corn & Black Bean Salsa. How much does it normally cost? Buy a jar for $4 usually. Did you know you can make like 5 jars worth for $4??? Yes! you can! Here's what I did.

Take these ingrediants and throw them in a large-ish bowl

1 Bag Frozen Sweet Corn (or I like the roasted smoky flavor frozen corn from Trader Joe's)
1 Can of Black beans, drained & rinsed well
1 Can of Diced Tomatoes (I like the ones that have chiles or spice added already)
lots of chopped cilantro
Salt
Pepper
Juice from one lime
Heat as desired (ie jalepenos, habeneros etc. I went mild since I thought the kids might eat it)

Let the flavors blend for a while. Since the corn is frozen, I leave it out for a few hours to defrost, then put it in the fridge for storing. Great cheap tasty snack. Take it to parties or eat at home! Of course, my mind was reeling with the thoughts of using all fresh stuff this summer.