Black Bean and Corn Salad

I’m in a summer frame of mind, and it’s not hard to figure out why. My next Fool’s Gold romance novella, ALMOST SUMMER, will be released on May 1 wherever ebooks are sold. Then on May 29, SUMMER DAYS will be released in mass market paperback, ebook, and audio, followed by SUMMER NIGHTS and ALL SUMMER LONG.

To me, summertime equals salad time, especially salads that don’t require turning on the oven. I looked through my pantry. A can of corn was right next to a can of black beans, both staples in California-Mexican cuisine I grew up with. I’ve had some great Black Bean and Corn Salad at restaurants, and I remembered them tasting sweet-tart and fresh.

I looked up several recipes online. I had thought the tang in the recipe would come from vinegar, but I was surprised to discover that every recipe started with lime juice. I didn’t have any lime juice on hand. However, I did have some frozen limeade concentrate, because I had recently made a batch of Fool’s Gold Frozen Margaritas. (You know, the ones that Jo serves at Jo’s Bar in downtown Fool’s Gold… YUM! I’ll share that recipe one of these days) The limeade was sweet enough on its own that I didn’t need to add any sugar to the dressing. My salad turned out to be just as good as any of the restaurant salads I remembered.

Recipe: Black Bean and Corn Salad

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans sweet corn, drained
1 can minced green chilies (desired spiciness)
4 oz Monterrey Jack cheese, cut into ¼-inch chunks
1 small onion, chopped
¼ C fresh cilantro, minced
2 T frozen limeade concentrate, mixed with ¼ C water
1/3 C olive oil
1 T ground cumin
1 clove garlic
1/8 t Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
¼ t salt

Place the drained beans and corn in a bowl with the chilies, cheese, onions, and cilantro. Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over the vegetable mixture. Stir to coat.

Garlic Butter Salmon with Teriyaki-Glazed Green Beans

You’ll find more free recipes – and excerpts of my books – at SusanMallery.com!

The hero of my latest book, ONLY MINE, Finn Andersson is a sexy, rugged small airplane pilot from Alaska. When ONLY MINE hit #10 on the New York Times bestsellers list, my friend Marilyn of Marilyn’s Romance Reviews suggested I should celebrate with an Alaskan salmon dinner. What a perfect idea!

Marilyn sent me a recipe for barbecue sauce for salmon, but I wasn’t in the mood for a tomato-based sauce. She also sent me a link to this recipe for Taku Glacier Lodge Salmon Baste. That recipe looked delicious, but I didn’t have any brown sugar on hand. Plus, it was a recipe for 8 salmon fillets, which means I would have to do math to cut the recipe down for me and my husband.

I decided to use the two recipes from Marilyn as inspiration for my own salmon basting sauce. This Garlic Butter Salmon is, if I do say so myself, incredibly delicious! I paired it with Teriyaki-Glazed Green Beans. All in all, a terrific way to celebrate the #10 spot on the New York Times list. Life is good!

Recipe: Garlic Butter Salmon

2 salmon fillets, 1 pound total
¼ C butter
4 cloves garlic
1 t soy sauce
1 t granulated sugar

Cut the butter into chunks and put in a small microwave-safe bowl with the garlic, soy sauce, and sugar. Microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds. Stir well until all the butter is melted.

Preheat the grill. (I use an indoor grill.) Create an aluminum foil boat for each salmon fillet. Brush the bottom of the foil with the butter mixture. Place the salmon on the foil boats and baste with butter. Grill for about ten minutes, basting every two minutes, until salmon flakes easily with a fork.

Recipe: Teriyaki-Glazed Green Beans

1 lb fresh green beans
1 T sesame seeds
1 T sesame oil
1/3 C teriyaki sauce

Place the greens in a large sauté pan with about half a cup of water. Cover. Cook over medium heat until the water is mostly gone, about 5 minutes. While the green beans are cooking, toast the sesame seeds in a small, dry sauté pan. Be careful, the seeds will burn easily.

Uncover the beans. Add the sesame oil to the pan and toss to coat. Cook another 2 minutes. Add the teriyaki sauce and toss to coat. Put on a plate and then sprinkle the beans with the sesame seeds.

Dana Marton’s Tall, Dark and Cool as a Cucumber Salad

I’m happy to introduce my good friend Dana Marton, author of fast-paced, adventurous stories of romantic suspense. Dana’s latest book, GUARDIAN AGENT, takes readers to the dangerous nighttime canals of Venice, Italy, where hero Gabe Cannon is part of an elite covert ops group tasked with bringing in a rogue agent. But when Gabe gets orders to shoot to kill his former friend, he goes rogue, too, to protect the former agent and his friend’s beautiful younger sister.

Read a free excerpt of GUARDIAN AGENT at www.danamarton.com!

Three random questions for Dana Marton

Did you ever have a crush on a teacher or another inappropriate adult? If so, who knew about your crush?
I had a huge crush on my history teacher in high school. He looked like Antonio Banderas. I always made sure to get As in his class :-) As far as who knew about it.... I'm afraid, pretty much all the other students did. I was not very good at disquising my teenage crush.

Where did you and your husband go on your first date?
Perkin's. We lived in a very small town so choices were limited to the extreme. But by the end of dinner he knew I was the one. (He says.) Once when I was overcome by skepticism, I asked him if it was such a momentous occasion for him, does he remember what I wore. I totally didn't expect him to, but he remembered everything to the last detail after 15+ years.

What is something silly you’ve done when playing Truth or Dare?
Ride on the hood of a car, hanging on to the windshield wiper while someone drove it around the parking lot. I was young and very stupid. Do not try this under any circumstances!!!

And one not-so-random question

What makes Gabe, the hero of your latest book, GUARDIAN AGENT, so delicious?
He's tall, dark and hot. And nice. He just has the most amazing heart. On the outside, he's this tough commando soldier with a dark past, but when things come down to the wire, he always does the right thing. He is the type of man who would put his life at risk for a stranger. If you're ever in real deep trouble (as in mercenaries with a kill order are chasing you accross the rooftops of Europe to take you down), he is the guy you'd want by your side.

Recipe: Tall, Dark and Cool as a Cucumber Salad

—a story of summer love for the kitchen, the back yard BBQ and the picnic park—
He stood tall, dark and cool. His very name made her tremble with desire: Sir Cucumber. She rolled with grace, a curvaceous redhead. Lady Tomato.

“Juicy,” he thought the first time he saw her.

But Odorous Onion stood between them.

Their fight shook the garden. Swords flashed. Endless cuts on both sides. Courage and despair. Their grunts peppered the air. As well as Odorous Onion’s salty language, which made Miss Tomato gasp.

“You will be mine, you zesty wench,” Onion threatened.

“I’d rather drink vinegar,” she tossed back.

“She’s my love, my life, my everything!” With that shout, Cucumber surged forward and cut Odorous Onion down where he stood, vanquishing his archenemy at last.

“My Kingdom is yours, Lady Tomato,” the gallant prince kneeled in front of his love at last. “Please come with me to my castle of Mayonnaise.”

She gave him a serene smile. “I do think our flavors will blend beautifully, fair Prince,” she agreed before he kissed her.
----------------------------------------------
Cast of characters: 2 cucumbers, 2 medium tomatoes, ½ red onion, pinch of salt, pinch of ground black pepper, 1 tbsp white vinegar, 3 tbsp mayonnaise.

Synopsis: Cut cucumbers, tomatoes and onion into thin slices then mix in with salt, pepper, vinegar and mayonnaise. Cover and chill in fridge for an hour.

Genre: Cucumber Salad

Tomato-Basil Salad with Molasses Vinaigrette

You can get a printable version of this recipe at www.susanmallery.com/recipes.php - plus lots more free recipes!

Summer has been slow to come to Seattle this year, as it is every year. While other parts of the country talk about trips to the beach, we crane our necks looking for a hint of sun peeking from between the clouds.

Seattle finally got a little bit of sun this week, and it’s thanks to me. (You’re welcome.) This weekend, I decided that summer needed a little encouragement, so I came up with a recipe for Tomato-Basil Salad with Molasses Vinaigrette. Summer in a bowl.

I had never even heard of molasses vinaigrette before. I have since found some recipes online, so clearly I wasn’t the first person to think of this delicious combination. The vinaigrette has a slightly smoky flavor. One website said it tastes great on spinach salad, and that sounds true to me.

Recipe: Tomato-Basil Salad with Molasses Vinaigrette

2 cups of tomatoes, sliced into one-inch pieces
½ C sweet onion, quartered and sliced
¼ C fresh basil, sliced

Molasses Vinaigrette:
3 T red wine vinegar
1 T olive oil
1 ½ t molasses
1 clove garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Put the tomatoes, onions, and basil in a bowl. Combine the vinaigrette ingredients, then pour over the vegetables. Toss lightly to coat. Allow to marinate for at least half an hour. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Pan-Fried Okra

I’m a born-and-raised California girl, and these days, I live in Washington State. But for a number of years, I lived in Texas. Sugar Land, to be precise. And when you live Texas, you’re going to run across okra on a pretty regular basis. I mean okay, yes, I had seen it before, but it wasn’t a staple of restaurant food in California or Washington.

In Texas, it’s a pretty common item on the menu. Fried okra. The first time I ordered it, it felt exotic, if not exactly sophisticated. I don’t think you can feel like a sophisticate while eating fried okra. I’m not even sure what wine pairing I’d recommend, except maybe Cooter’s Box O’ Fermented Grape Juice.

Last week, I saw okra at the grocery store. The thing is, I don’t like okra, but my husband does. As I’m a loving wife, I brought it home. Where it sat in my fridge for three days. Taunting me. Every time I opened the fridge, I heard the mockery: Who are you kidding? You don’t know how to cook okra!

(Okra is the mockingest of all the vegetables.)

So I turned to the web and discovered this for Okra Curry. I didn’t want to do a curry, but I used that recipe as inspiration for my own variation. No recipe is sacred!

Pan-Fried Okra

1 lb fresh okra, sliced into ¼-inch rounds

1 T olive oil

1 t all-purpose flour

½ t garlic salt

1/8 t black pepper

Microwave the okra for three minutes. While it’s cooking, mix the flour, salt, and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the okra and cook for about five minutes. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the okra. I put the flour in a mesh strainer to get an even dusting. Cook the okra, stirring frequently, for two more minutes.

My husband says it’s delicious, but I’m still not a fan.

Flour-Dusted Roast Chicken with Asparagus in Lemon-Curry Sauce

Yesterday, THE BEST OF FRIENDS was released, and I wanted to celebrate with a really good meal. In the morning, I happened upon a Food Network show on which they were making roast chicken with olives and onions. I came upon the show in the last few minutes, so I didn’t know how to make their recipe, but roast chicken sounded like a very nice way to celebrate my latest book. (Read Chapters 1 and 2 for free here: THE BEST OF FRIENDS excerpt)

One of the most popular recipes I’ve shared so far was the Crispy Baked Parmesan Ranch Chicken, and I wondered if there was a way to roast a whole chicken and make the skin as crispy and delicious as it was on that recipe.

My flour-dusted roast chicken recipe turned out delicious. It would be wonderful served with mashed potatoes and gravy made from the drippings. If only carbs weren’t evil.

I served it with roasted asparagus and red pepper, and a lemon-curry sauce of my own devising. I actually devised two versions, one with wasabi, then decided I liked this one best. So I threw out the other one, only to realize I had thrown out the one that I preferred. Then I had to throw out the wasabi one, wash all the bowls and measuring spoons, and start from scratch. Which means that I can say definitively that this recipe is reproducible.

Flour-Dusted Roast Chicken

One 4-5 pound roasting chicken

¼ C all-purpose flour

2 t season salt or garlic salt

¼ t cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper. Place half of it in a bag that’s large enough to hold the chicken with room to spare. If you have nothing else, a plastic grocery bag should work, though you’ll want to work over the sink in case there are any small holes. Put the chicken in the bag, then toss in the rest of the flour mixture. Shake to coat the chicken all over. Remove the chicken from the bag and shake off the extra flour.

Lightly oil the rack in a roasting pan, and place the chicken breast side up on the rack. Roast on the lowest rack of the oven, basting occasionally with its own juices, until the thigh temperature reaches 170. The chicken will take about 90 minutes to 2 hours. Let sit for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Asparagus in Lemon-Curry Sauce

Lemon-Curry Sauce:
¼ C mayonnaise

¼ C plain, unsweetened yogurt

1 t curry powder

1 t soy sauce

1 t honey

1 t lemon juice

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

Roasted Asparagus and Red Peppers:
1 lb. asparagus

1 red bell pepper

To prepare the asparagus, snap off about one inch at the bottom and discard. Snap the remaining asparagus spear into two pieces. Slice the red bell pepper thin. Toss the asparagus and the pepper with about half of the lemon curry sauce. Lay in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, until the asparagus is crisp-tender. Arrange a serving on a plate and then drizzle it with lemon-curry sauce.

Corn and Blueberry Pasta Salad

I’m a brave person. I wouldn’t say I’m fearless, but I don’t let fear prevent me from taking crazy leaps of faith. Like the time I turned down a well paying job with a solid future in accounting in order to try my hand at writing romance novels.

My latest act of daring could be considered even more foolhardy: I modified a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens.

Gasp!

Let me preface this by saying that I love BHG. The magazine always has great decorating ideas, inspiring garden features, and recipes I love. The recipes are sophisticated but simple.

The other day, I was flipping through the June issue and spotted a recipe for Corn and Blueberry Salad and I stopped in my tracks. Corn and blueberries? Together? It was so pretty, I had to try it.

I followed the recipe exactly, and it was delightful. This salad is gorgeous and would be a wonderful addition to any potluck. But I live in a house with two people, and this was a lot of salad for just two people.

So after we had eaten about half of it, I took a leap of faith and modified the recipe to come up with Corn and Blueberry Pasta Salad. No recipe is sacred. And with apologies to the editors and writers at BHG, I have to tell you, this is even more delicious than the original. It was a great grab-and-go lunch meal for me for a couple of days, which was timely since I was deep into writing one of next year’s Fool’s Gold romances at the time. (I’m working on Montana’s story.)

Note: This recipe is from scratch. Alternatively, you could start out with Corn and Blueberry Salad from BHG and then add the remaining ingredients after you eat about half.

Corn and Blueberry Pasta Salad

3 ears sweet corn
½ C fresh blueberries
½ C cucumber, sliced
½ C carrots, diced
½ C sugar snap peas, chopped
¼ C red onion, diced
¼ C red bell pepper, diced
½ C cheddar cheese, in ¼-inch chunks
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
½ jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
4 C cooked whole wheat pasta

Dressing:
1 C mayonnaise
1 T lime juice
1 T olive oil
2 t honey
¼ t ground cumin

Boil the corn for 5-7 minutes, then drain and rinse with cool water. Wait until the corn is cool enough that it won’t melt the cheese when you mix the ingredients. Cut the kernels from the cobs and place in a large bowl with the next 9 ingredients.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients and add to the pasta mixture. Fold in the dressing gently so you don’t pop the blueberries. Refrigerate overnight if you can resist it that long. Try to give it at least a couple of hours for the flavors to meld.

Tater Salad

Today, I had the bright idea to try making potato salad with Tater Tots. Tater Salad. The main reason for this brainstorm was simply that I think it’s funny to say Tater Salad. I didn’t have Tater Tots on hand. I had to make a special trip to the grocery store to buy them. All so I could say Tater Salad.
Ingredients:

1 28-oz bag of Tater Tots, baked according to package directions, then cooled on paper towels

6 hardboiled eggs, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

½ of a large onion, chopped

1 C. mayonnaise

1 T. prepared mustard

½ t celery seed

1 10-oz can of Bacardi frozen strawberry daiquiri concentrate, mixed with 1 can of water (optional)

Coconut rum (optional)

Crushed ice (optional)

Fill a glass with crushed ice. Add the amount of coconut rum you want and top off with strawberry daiquiri mix. If you’re feeling more energetic than I was, you could put all of that in a blender and do it right. But it tastes pretty good with crushed ice from the refrigerator door.

With drink in hand, you’re ready to start on the Tater Salad.

Put the cool, baked Tater Tots in a bowl and set aside. Put the other ingredients in a separate bowl and mix well. Add the mayonnaise mixture to the Tater Tot mixture and mix gently. Refrigerate.

The Tater Salad turned out to be more fun to say than to eat. It was okay, but it wasn’t better than regular potato salad. You can use this recipe for Potato Salad, too, though. Just replace the Tater Tots with six large baking potatoes. Peel, chunk, and boil the potatoes. Cool, and then continue with the recipe as above.

Cheers!