Hi everyone and please click on the title of this post to read more. What a gorgeous weekend! Finally some nice weather. I hope everyone enjoyed it.
Although it was over ninety degrees, I was committed to wearing my Whitesnake-esque zebra print jacket in the photo above. Why, you may ask? Because I spent Saturday night with my band, the No Rehearsals, doing 80s covers for a fundraiser at my friends Stacey and Russ’ house (thanks again, guys). I must say, we rocked the house with some vintage songs like “voices Carry”(‘Til Tuesday), “Dreaming” (Blondie) and “Heartbreaker ” (Pat Benatar) and had a great night for a great cause, Little Kids Rock (www.littlekidsrock.org).
In addition to all the music and scintillating conversation, (like discussions about how “I’ll Melt With You”, by Modern English, was about Nuclear war-thanks for the info, Liz), the food was plentiful. Actually, the food was a little too plentiful and our hosts had to deal with the leftovers. Yes, the dreaded task of dealing with a party’s leftovers. Wouldn’t it be nice at the end of the night, a bit tipsy and tired, to just throw everything into a huge garbage bag?
Well, my friend Stacey, having thought ahead and bought a bunch of Snapware tupperware, held firm and packaged away tortillas, jalapenos, sour cream and even marinated artichokes for later use in the fridge and freezer. A few friends stayed for the kitchen after-party and helped clean up and store the food.
Let’s recap: Stacey and her family have now thrown a fundraiser, spent a great evening with friends AND have dinner for countless nights ahead because they thought ahead and took the time to store properly. It’s a beautiful thing.
One of the items was a black bean salad that was perfect for being blended up in a Cuisinart to make the savory and spicy black bean spread that you are about to read (you can also see them as a side dish in the video below). It is perfect in a Quesadilla with a side salad. Because you are all such loyal readers, I am throwing in an EXTRA recipe for the salad dressing. Please, you deserve it and it is my pleasure….
For Quesadillas:
Black Bean Cilantro spread:
2 cups black beans
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp salt
2 small thai chiles or 1/2 jalapeno
Puree all above ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
Whole wheat or multi grain tortillas
cheddar cheese or any other cheese you like
For Salad:
Honey lime Salad dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
3 TBS apple cider vinegar
2TBS honey
juice of 1 small lime or 1/2 large lime
salt and pepper to taste
Stir all above ingredients together with a whisk or fork until fully combined.
salad greens, chopped tomatoes, avocado , walnuts(optional)
Toast up the tortillas on a skillet until a little crispy, don’t have to use oil but can. Remove from heat , spread black bean mixture on tortilla, sprinkle on cheese if you like, top with dressed salad and roll up and eat with more salad on the side. Enjoy!
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