Saturday, January 17, 2009

Comfort Food Saturday

I'm craving comfort food. That is probably the reason I allowed Marcus to talk me into eating lunch at Dairy Queen. And yes, I did eat my sundae before I ate my cheeseburger. And I know, I didn't need either of them.

ANYWAY, I always enjoy doing recipe posts because sometimes it prompts folks to send me recipes of their own. Which I love. So keep sending them! It also saves me the bother of writing down new recipes, then losing them. I can just go to my archives! After the blandy mcbland turkey meatball recipe I posted earlier this week, which are quite tasty when mixed into tomato sauce, I thought I should give you something with a little more pizazz. So why don't we start Comfort Food Saturday? I'll try to provide a good, comforting recipe each weekend that won't break the bank. (And I realize some of our banks are more about saving calories than saving money!)

Here's one of my favorite snack recipes. I could eat an entire bowl of this stuff RIGHT NOW.

SOUTHERN CAVIAR
  • 2 (15-ounce) cans black-eyed peas, drained
  • 1 (15-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
  • 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles (recommended: Ro-Tel)
  • 2 cups chopped red bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh jalapeno peppers
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1 (8-ounce) bottle Italian dressing
  • 1 (4-ounce) jar chopped pimentos, drained
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers.

Some notes about this recipe:
If you hate black-eyed peas, use black beans instead!
If you hate spicy food, use a regular can of diced tomatoes instead of Ro-Tels and omit the jalapeno. Maybe add some green bell pepper for color.
Use fat free Italian dressing or the Wishbone "Just 2 Good" dressing which has only 2 grams of fat. Those dressings tend to have more chunks in them, which adds to the yum factor of this recipe.

This is great for pot-lucks. Enjoy!

6 comments:

AJU5's Mom said...

Okay, so I am a lazy comfort food person. One of my favorites is nachos - chips, cheese, chicken or taco meat, and then green chile sour cream for dipping. I like guacamole too, but since AJU1 thinks it is disgusting, I don't keep it around (goes bad too quickly).

For a healthier option, I like smoothies when it is warmer. Yogurt, frozen fruit, and a little milk or juice to make it blend well. It normally hits the spot!

Anonymous said...

You've made me want some of this salsa. It's so good. After reading AJU5's Mom's comment, I want a smoothie, too! Ice cream wouldn't be bad, either. Too bad I'm all out.

I love the fact that you're posting recipes, especially since you wouldn't go near the kitchen to cook when you were living at home. Remember that? Oh, there was that one time you made the stuffed meatloaf and it turned out beautifully and was so delicious.

Keep the recipes comin'!

Love you,
J

Hotch Potchery said...

I love this recipe, and it is very Weight Watcher friendly. It is going on my superbowl list!

Anonymous said...

I remember having something like this once, it was awesome. Sounds like a good thing to bring to Superbowl Sunday. I am lucky to have Ro-Tel tomatoes at my local store, they are awesome.

Heather said...

YUM... that's sounds good! I'm looking forward to the weekly recipes!

Surprised Suburban Wife said...

"2 grams of fat" per...tablespoon? bottle? I'm guessing it's more like the former! Sounds yummy and I love the comfort food Saturday idea.