Summer Salad Tasting and Recipe Exchange

Such a fun night last night!  We haven't had any recipe exchanges among friends for a while and this was a perfect kick-off.  We each brought a salad recipe, labeled it with its name and ours, and took turns tasting everything.  


We plan on continuing our food parties by volunteering to host/pick a dish type or ingredient and have started a blog to document The Recipes.  The person running the blog for us took pictures at the event to post along with the recipe.  Awesome idea.


So if you wanted to start a food swap like this, send an email to your friends with the date/time/place and with the instructions to either bring a recipe or email it to you for an electronic distribution (however you want to plan yours).  You will also need to specify the food type.  For example, it could be *salads, desserts, meatless main dishes, drinks, breakfast foods OR you could even choose an ingredient, saying everyone has to bring something with feta or chili powder or chicken, etc.  Have fun! 

Bean Salad

1 can green beans

1 can white beans

1 can red kidney beans

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can black beans

1/4 - 1/2 red onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp ground dry mustard

1 tsp dried tarragon

Drain all the beans and mix together in a large bowl.  Add the diced onion, diced green and red peppers, and chopped cilantro.  Set aside.  In a small saucepan, mix the vinegar, oil, sugar, dry mustard, and tarragon over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and pour over bean mixture.  Stir until all ingredients are coated.  Let sit in the fridge to marinate, stirring occasionally.  (Still good if eaten right away)  *Hominy is also a yummy ingredient to add.

Original source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/three-bean-salad-i/detail.aspx