Corn Salad

After spending July 4th weekend with my family at our lake house I have to admit I am in full fledged summer mode. I feel like I am still on vacation - taking a break from any real meal planning and instead making lots of little dishes and then mix and match. This corn salad is a perfect addition to your BBQ table with a smoky savory flavor that will stand up to any grilled meats.

I love using different seasonings to add lots of flavor to normal recipes and I find that summer picnic food in general can be lacking some flavor. In one of my other posts, I looked at a fun twist on Greek ingredients and potato salad but using the ready made KC Masterpiece® BBQ sauce is even easier and perfect for those day after leftovers. I hate feeling like I am eating leftovers but of course I wouldn't waste food so I try to "recycle" by using the ingredients in a new way. This would be a perfect way to make left over BBQ goodies into an amazing lunch salad (add some tomato, cucumber, lettuce and diced up grilled chicken). You can even mix the BBQ sauce with some herbs and olive oil to make a spicy dressing! 

Black Bean and Corn Salsa....with Lobster!

Summer time salads are a no-brainer. With all the fresh produce out on the stands, I almost contemplate going raw every year. But I would miss all of my favorite seafood too much! This dish is a summer time staple with a touch of class that brings it up to a whole new level. And its a food recycling project which I love! Say goodbye to days of left overs....recycle them into something brand new. After a girls- night Lobster Boil, I was left with way to many corns to even think about eating but I didn't want them to go to waste... New Jersey Corn is too good to trash! I decided to free up some room in my fridge by taking the corn off the cob and the rest just fell together.

I was so happy to have just received a can of Black Beans from Goya in the mail as I was all out. Thank you to Foodbuzz's Tastemaker program for making this dinner come true! While lobster was the perfect complement to this dish, if you don't have a few extra laying around feel free to use boiled shrimp as it would have a similar taste and texture. While I wouldn't consider this dish very ethnic, I did spice it up a bit with some chipotle pepper powder.

Lobster, Corn & Black Bean Salsa
1 lobster tail - diced
1 can GOYA black beans - drained and rinsed
5 ears of corn - cut of the cob
10 cherry tomatoes - cut in half
2 tbsp good olive oil
juice of 1 lime
4 tbsp fresh parsley diced
2 tbsp fresh basil diced
1 tsp chipotle powder
salt & pepper

1) Season lobster tail with chipotle, salt & pepper
2) Combine all ingredients and toss to mix

Girl's Night Lobster Boil!

Sometimes it amazes me the things that some of my friends have never eaten. Lobster Rolls are so quintessentially New England in the Summer that I forget that people from the other side of the country are as unfamiliar with our past times as I am of palm trees and surfing. A California native friend recently disclosed she had never eaten a lobster roll! Of course, I promised to make her one immediately but at the last minute went for old fashioned lobster boil instead.

She brought the corn and a crusty french loaf courtesy of the farmer's market at the Grove Street PATH station... so conveniently located for a stop on the way home. I added the lobsters and some roasted potatoes. Lobster Boils are so fast that all I needed to do was have the veggies chopped and ready to go into the pot when she arrived. As we sipped on a nice cold glass of white wine....the lobster's took a soak in the very hot tub!