Kymberly's Kitchen » Just another WordPress weblog

I thought we’d start off with a recipe.  An easy one. 

Why I am doing this blog?  We will get to that later. 

As for now…. I like to call it Texas Greek Salsa!  It’s not really a Greek salsa…. but it contains cucumbers… so I thought it should be called Greek.  Plus, it has black beans and Texas grapefruit…. so I thought Texas Greek Salsa would fit it nicely. 

Oh what does it matter what we call it?  It’s delicious…. so lets move on.

Here are the ingredients: black beans, Texas Rio Star Grapefruit, cucumber, sweet red onion, fresh cilantro, fresh flat leaf parsley

And for the dressing:  lemon, garlic, ground cumin, honey, salt, ground black pepper, olive oil

First, open the black beans, rinse and drain them.  Then, add them to a large mixing bowl. 

I was just thinking… you could use black eyed peas instead if your tastebuds so prefer.

Now we will cut the Rio Star Grapefruit into sections.  Lets pause right here in our recipe (I’m all for a break every now and again.), and I’ll show you how to section a grapefruit in 2 minutes, or less!

Cut both ends off.

Then, lay the grapefruit on one of the flat sides, and cut away the peel from top to bottom along curvature of the fruit – removing all the white pulp as you go.

Do this all the way around the grapefruit, until you have what we call a “naked grapefruit.”  Interesting choice of words, I know.

If you have any pesky white pith left, just cut it off.  It’s that easy!

Now run your knife along the membrane and cut down towards the center of the fruit.

When you get to the center, rotate your knife and cut upwards towards the outside of the grapefruit.

The section will pop out like this! Perfect!

Keep going until you have the whole entire grapefruit sectioned.

Then CHOP! chop, chop, chop until you have small peices.

Then add them to your bowl with the black beans. 

Now take the cucumber, and slice it into rounds.  If you have any leftovers, you can use them to remove puffiness from your eyes.  Just saying…

Then, I like to stack them and cut veritcally then horizontally to make the job a little easier.

Measure out 1 cup, and add it to the grapefruit and black beans.

Now for the onion… lop both ends off.  ok, ok… so lop is kind of a strong word.  Cut both ends off.

Cut it in half, and do the same thing you did with the cucumber (handy little trick, isn’t it?).  Lay the onion flat on one side, and slice verically and then horizontally.

Add one cup to the other ingredients.  LOOK AT THOSE COLORS!!! amazing!  Sorry… I got distracted.

Oh cilantro… where have you been all my life?  Take a bunch of cilantro, wash it.  Wash it real good. [don't you love that song?]

Wrap it in a paper towel.

Squeeze the water out.

Open it up, and voila! Washed and dried cilantro.  Nice little trick, huh?  Or maybe you already knew that, and I’m way behind on the times…?

Now CHOP! Then add 1/4 cup to your bowl.

Then repeat exactly with the parsley.  Isn’t cilantro and parsley a unique combination?  This is the first time I’ve tried a recipe with both of them in it, and I think I’m going to like it.  A lot.

Mix all the ingredients until it looks just right.

Now for the dressing.  Take a lemon and cut it in half.  BTW: The way to pick out a good peice of citrus is by looking for a peice with a smooth skin.  In the world of citrus smooth skin = thin skin, which = lots of juice!!

Put the juice of 1 lemon in a seperate bowl.  Look at all that juice.  See.  I told you.  I know how to pick them!

Ah!  My favorite part of the recipe.  Garlic.  LOVE garlic.  Don’t you? It makes anything better! 

Lay the garlic on a cutting board, then take a small glass and *slam* it down on the garlic clove.  This will make it 1 million times easier for you to remove the skin.

Peel the skin off, it should be very easy.  Then dice the clove into very small peices.

Add the garlic to the dressing bowl.

Add 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon honey (YUM)

1/2 teaspoon salt

fresh ground black pepper

and 1/2 cup olive oil, whisking as you drizzle.

Mix it all together!  I love the colors, kind of like a Greek fiesta in a bowl!

My thoughts:  This salsa is fabulous with chips.  Maybe even pita chips.  I love the sweetness of the Texas grapefruit mixed with the crisp of the red onion.  I was thinking… this would be fabulous over baked or grilled chicken.  Next time I am going to try the black eyed peas… I think that would be delicious too!

I’m off to clean the kicthen…. until next time… a di o.  That’s Greek for goodbye!  Or shall I say… Bye Y’all!

Texas Greek Salsa

Ingredients

1 (19 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 Texas Rio Star Grapefruit, sectioned

1 cup diced cucumber

1 cup diced sweet red onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Dressing

1 lemon, juiced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

Directions

1. Combine black beans, grapefruit, cucumber, red onion, cilantro and parsley in a large mixing bowl, toss gently and set aside.

2. In a small mixing bowl whisk together the lemon juice, garlic, cumin, sugar, salt, and ground black pepper.

3. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the dressing mixture, while continuing to whisk.

4. Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss.