Two Salads and a Game of Fetch.

Tuesday night is one of my favorite nights of the week because it's a night where Kyle and I have zero shows to watch on television.  We actually can't stand to watch any show on the Tuesday night line up.  No Idol, Voice, or Dancing fans here!  Instead Tuesday night is a random night where we play a game of fetch outside with the dogs, eat dinner, and then ask, "What should we do tonight?"  Tonight I decided to cook (re: prepare salads).  Random, right?  I had hoped to use up a few pounds of produce staring at me from the fridge.  

The first salad I made tonight is a gem I came across a few years ago in a Better Homes and Gardens Annual Recipe cookbook:  Southwestern-Style Three-Bean Salad.  I love the recipe because it makes a large amount which can be stored in the fridge up to a week and taken to work for lunch or eaten after work as a snack.  Or, if your me, enjoyed in the morning for breakfast.  It's also perfect to bring to family gatherings over the summer; although, I'm never quite sure if anyone likes it as much as I do.  Also, the smell is tantalizing.   It's torturing me to wait until tomorrow to have a bite!

Southwestern Three-Bean Salad

Better Homes and Gardens Annual Recipes 2003

1 15-oz. can garbanzo beans

1 15-oz. can red kidney beans (rinsed and dried)

1 15-oz. can black beans (rinsed and dried)

1 cup thinly sliced celery

3/4 cup chopped red onion

1 recipe Cilantro Lime Dressing (recipe to follow)

1.  In a large bowl, mix together garbanzo beans, kidney beans, black beans, celery, and onion.

 2. Prepare Cilantro Lime Dressing; pour over bean mixture.  Stir gently to coat.

 3.  Cover and chill for 3-24 hours, stirring occasionally. 

Realistically, this salad takes 40 minutes to prepare. About 20 minutes will be spent finely chopping the onion and celery, 5 minutes preparing the beans, and 15 minutes putting together the Cilantro Lime dressing. 

Cilantro Lime Dressing 

WARNING: Please don't feel intimidated by the amount of ingredients.  I guarantee you probably already have 95% of them in your fridge and pantry!

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 minced garlic clove

2 tbsp. fresh cilantro

2 tbsp. lime juice

1 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. salt

1.  Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir well.

The recipe says it makes 8 side-dish servings, but at a big pot luck, you could easily have 16 people trying your dish.  If you were to have only 8 servings, here are the nutrition facts:  202 cal., 8 g. fat (1 sat.), 0mg cholesterol, 562 mg sodium, 27 carbs., 9 g. fiber, 9 g. protein.  With all the protein and fiber, it's easy to see why I enjoy this salad as a main dish for lunch!

Salad number two took 5 minutes to make.  It's a Cucumber, Tomato, Onion Salad.  I followed this recipe from Rachel Ray, except that I used a regular tomato instead of Romas.  I'm not as excited to eat this salad, but at least I know a tomato, red onion, and cucumber will be consumed! 

There you have it- a random Tuesday night full of chopping, mixing, and chilling. Hope your evening was equally as exciting! ; )