Best Bean Salsa EVER

In case you are unfamiliar with a poblano pepper, here's a picture of one next to a chef knife (picture from eHow webpage). I call it a "mild jalapeno on steroids". You can see it's similar in shape to a jalapeno pepper, but much larger and fatter. This is one of the Bean Salsa ingredients and it's also in the Southwest Garlic Seasoning, but roasted.


I heard about this recipe on the NPR doctor call-in show, Zorba Paster on Your Health. It’s a very healthy, quick and beautiful recipe – best “black bean salsa” I’ve ever tasted. I made it twice in one week! I changed it a little bit, being my mother's daughter, unable to actually stick to a recipe (I'm thankful for that!) and here’s what I came up with. I added the lime, poblano pepper instead of jalapeno, sauted the onion and pepper, and added the Southwest Seasoning. We truthfully tried it without the Southwest Seasoning and it was so much better with. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1+ tsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion (Vidalia, red or yellow)
1 poblano or bell pepper, chopped (if using poblano, then no jalapeno or chilies)
1 jalapeno, chopped OR 1 Tbsp. green chilies
1 cup celery, chopped
1 15 oz can Pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
1 15 oz can Black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 12 - 15 oz can Shoepeg corn (or corn nibblets) (drained)
1 small jar pimentos, drained
the juice from 1 lime

Dressing
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp. Garlic Earth Southwest Garlic Seasoning
1/4 cup olive oil

Saute the onion and bell pepper in a small pan over medium-low heat in a teaspoon or so of olive oil. While that’s cooking, drain and rinse the beans. Throw the corn and pimentos on top of the rinsed beans and let it all drain. In a medium bowl, combine the beans, celery, corn, onions, peppers, chilies, pimentos and lime juice. In the same pan, over low heat, simmer the vinegar, sugar and Southwest Garlic Seasoning for a few minutes to melt the sugar.

Add the dressing to the beans and veggies, toss gently with the olive oil and serve with Southwest Wonton Chips or scoops. This also goes very well with baked tortilla scoops, as well. You'll see what I mean by "beautiful" -- it's so colorful with the red, pink, green, black and yellow, ... it's healthy and it tastes SO good.