Rice, Corn and Bean Salad

 

My fun and fabulous sister Linde came to visit a couple of weeks ago with her cutest little man, Jackson. When Linde and I were both pregnant at the same time back in 2007, we couldn’t wait for our boys to become best friends. We pictured ourselves taking lots of vacations, drinking on porches and snacking on delicious food while watching them play. Fast forward 6 years and well, Ansen and Jackson get along…for the most part. But their fighting doesn’t keep us from drinking and eating. And running!

It was the second year in a row Linde was able to come up to Bellingham to run the Chuckanut Foot Race with me. The first day she was here I decided our motto would be “We do what we want!” so we started the day off eating at the Bagelry and having ice cream at Mallard’s. But then she wasn’t feeling well and I took her to Urgent Care and they diagnosed her with Kidney Failure. After a check in at the ER, lots of crying and me mentally prepping myself to donate a kidney it turned out she was perfectly fine and just needed antibiotics. So then about 15 minutes later we found ourselves at Fred Meyer waiting for a prescription and shopping for cute running outfits. Because, I mean, what would you do if you thought you were dying and then realized you could still run in the race the next day? Ovbi.

We got lots of comments on our socks. I, personally am a fan of the Three's Company pink shorts.

So we ran the race and it was awesome and fun and then we came home and made a delicious Rice, Corn and Bean salad to bring to my friend Kathryn’s house for a Mexican themed BBQ. This dish is a Linde Specialty, altered a bit from my cousin Beth Sobel’s recipe. It is a serious crowd pleaser.

Salad Ingredients
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
12 oz. frozen corn
2 15 oz. cans black beans
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
½ cup Feta Cheese

Salad Dressing
1/3 cup Olive Oil
1/3 cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
½ teaspoon garlic powder (or minced real garlic)
Juice of one large Lemon
2 teaspoons salt
ground pepper to taste
½ teaspoon thyme
a few generous sprinkles of hot sauce

Directions
Cook rice and let cool. Bring frozen corn to room temperature, or heat up in a pan. Combine all salad ingredients. Combine dressing. Toss! This recipe makes enough for a three family BBQ.

Linde. Alive and well, both kidneys in tact, and slicing green bell pepper like a boss.

 

 

Here are some other fun things we did while Linde and Jackson were in town:

Linde and Jackson and my youngest, Asher age 3, at the Pride Parade. Asher kept saying, "This is a crazy parade mama!" and "Look, that guy is only wearing underwear!"

 

We went to visit Uncle James at Alki Beach and we took the water taxi to downtown Seattle to ride the Big Wheel.

 

Ansen, Jackson, me and Uncle James on the Seattle Big Wheel. We got to go three times around and it was a shit ton of money so I don't think I'd recommend it. But now I can say I did it!

Other Linde related recipes on this blog:

 

Sangria
Belinda's Bellini

 

'cause a girl's gotta have her cocktails.