Sunday afternoon in the kitchen

I went to the Farmer's Market in Dallas this afternoon to get some fresh fruit and veggies.  I came home with a pineapple so sweet, it was like eating candy; sweet potatoes so big they could be launched as missiles; tomatoes so ripe that I could smell them as I walked by the vendor's vegetable stand; fresh blueberries that were as big as nickels; sweet onions that I sampled raw and did not shed a tear over; jalapenos that are the deepest shade of green and smell amazing and finally sweet, sweet corn on the cob.

So...the blueberries will become my mom's blueberry coffee cake....tons of blueberries in a slightly sweet and buttery batter and a nutmeg and sugar crust on top that is simply amazing.

Most of the jalapenos will become candied with a few left out for other recipes.

The sweet potatoes will be roasted and at least one of them will be made into match-stick fries for my hubby.  I may even make sweet potato biscuits.

The corn will be grilled, cut off the cob and used in a black bean and grilled corn salsa. Simple to make, but oh so delicious.  Grill your corn until it is browned and has a little bit of char on it and cut the kernels off the cob.  If you use an angel food cake pan, place the small end of the cob in the center tube, you can then cut the corn off the cob without loosing most of it on the floor for the cats to play with.  Rinse a can of plain black beans, drain and place in a mixing bowl.  Add the corn, 1 bunch of chopped cilantro, 2 jalapenos seeded, deveined and minced, 1/2 finely diced purple onion that has been rinsed under cold water and drained (this takes the strong smell and the sharp bite out of the raw onion), the juice of 1 lime, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.  Stir well and taste for seasoning.  I serve this with tortilla chips and it is simply wonderful.

The onions...some will be sliced for salads, some will be used in breakfast burritos, some will be sauteed until browned and used as the bed for baked tortilla crusted chicken breasts.  Tip:  for something different, crush tortilla chips (yellow, red and blue) and use these instead of bread crumbs to coat chicken, fish or pork chops....YUM!!!

The tomatoes have already been cut into chunks with salt and pepper added for flavor and have become one last taste of summer.

The pineapple has been cut into chunks for a quick snack.  The next pineapple will be grilled and served as dessert with home-made vanilla ice cream and bourbon sauce.

I hope you enjoy the salsa and the tip for the tortilla chips.  If y'all try these, I would love to hear from you.