Black Bean and Corn Salad and a Candy Man

Church picnic time! Everyone brings a salad. Where do I turn to find my recipe? The Podleski sisters's Eat, Shrink and Be Merry of course (the original title being Kernel Austin). It's a really yummy, but different salad offering, a nice change.

1 tbsp olive oil
4 cups whole-kernel corn, canned or frozen (thaw first if using frozen)
1/2 cup minced red onions
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (optional)
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp each ground cumin and chili powder
1 cup quartered grape tomatoes or 1 cup diced red bell pepper (I used a little of both)
1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
1 tbsp hickory-flavored bbq sauce
1 tsp granulated sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn. Cook and stir until corn just begins to char (don't burn it!), about 8 minutes. Add onions, jalapeno, garlic, cumin and chili powder. Cook and stir 1 more minute. Remove from heat.
Transfer corn mixture to a large bowl and add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.



This was a cute, edible craft the kids made at the picnic.

The body is a long skewer threaded with 3 large marshmallows. Put half a toothpick into each side of the body and thread a gummy worm on each for arms. A circle gummy completes it for the head. Some kids got really into it and added some gummy worms for feet and antenna too.