Black Bean and Corn Salsa

My sister, Sharon Kennick, of facebook fame and divineshestudio fame (click on the art blog of Sharon Kennick link) made this for us repeatedly when she and Kris came to visit one Christmas. I didn't get her recipe, but this is what I came up with. 

BLACK BEAN AND CORN SALSA

2 cans Bush’s Black* beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans sweet corn**, drained and rinsed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 sweet red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 fresh lemon
¼ c herbed cider vinegar (more or less. I make this and it makes a difference in flavor. Recipe follows)
1/3 c virgin olive oil (more or less.)
Fresh ground sea salt to taste (your grocer carries this in small jars)
Fresh ground multicolored peppercorns to taste (A must!! Ordinary black pepper will *not* do. Your grocer carries this in small jars also)

combine all ingredients and enjoy with tortilla chips or in burritos or in 7 layer dip or……..


* I use Bush's black beans for their firmness. Store brand, generic brands are too soft and mushy

**I use a name brand white shoe peg, or a name brand two toned sweet corn mix

I learned to make herbed vinegars from Linda Rieder at a "home making" meeting years ago.

HERBED VINEGAR

1 glass bottle with a cork or screw cap (a lovely glass bottle of vinegar from the store will be fine, just pour it out into a measuring cup to store it while you add herbs to bottle. I like the specialty vinegar bottles at wal mart in the vinegar section)

enough cider vinegar or red vinegar to fill bottle with herbs

6-8 multicolored peppercorns
2 cloves of garlic, may need to cut down to size to fit into mouth of bottle
sprig of fresh oregano
smal spring of fresh thyme
1 sprig of fresh rosemary

In your lovely glass bottle, drop your peppercorns in first. Then add whole cloves of garlic if they will fit through the neck. If they are too large, cut them lengthwise and drop them in. Then, artfully and attracrively place your herbs in the bottle. If you can't, just jam them in there somehow and it will look good in the end, anyway. Cut springs down to size to fit your bottle. If you have them, it helps to use those wooden kabob sticks to move herbs around. If not, whatever. Cap with cork or screw cap and place in a sunny window for 10 days to 2 weeks. (see note)

Use in Black Bean and Corn Salsa and homemade salad dressings. ( I have recipes if you want )

Note: When it is ready, store it wherever. Some people store it in fridge, I store it on my counter, some people store it in their kitchen window because it is pretty. Whatever. Refill it as you use it. Should be good for a few months- start checking flavor at about 3 months depending on where you store it -herbs will probably sour and wilt faster stored in a sunny window. You will know when it is too sour to use. Will taste bitter from the soured herbs.