Veggie Slaw

If you've ever had the napa vegetables at Rainforest Cafe, this is just like those. It's a nice light and sweet side.

1 each red, yellow and green bell pepper
1 large jicama
5 carrots
1 cucumber
1/2 head red cabbage
2 cups yellow raisins
2/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar

Julienne or dice the veggies as you prefer and put them all in a large bowl. Mix the vinegar, oil and sugar and toss well with veggies. You can eat this right away, but it's much better if you let the veggies soak up the liquid for a bit. You can also add red onion, corn, or just about any veggie that sounds good.

Corn and Black Bean Salsa

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 intact garlic bulb
1 small container fresh grape tomatoes
3 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 15 oz. can corn, drained
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained
2 7 oz. cans Herdez salsa casera
Juice of 1 lime

Preheat oven to 350. Line a medium sized baking pan with foil.

Cut tomatoes in half and place in a large bowl. Peel all but the last layer of skin off of the bulb of garlic, keeping the bulb intact. Add garlic to the tomato bowl, drizzle with olive oil and gently toss until evenly coated with oil. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until tomatoes begin to blacken. Be careful not to overly burn the tomatoes.

While tomatoes and garlic cook, place all other ingredients except corn and lime juice in a bowl, but do not stir. When tomatoes and garlic are done add tomatoes to this bowl, and squeeze roasted garlic into the bowl as well. Don't stir it yet!

Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Pour one layer of corn into the pan and dry roast for 3-5 minutes, tossing continuously, until smoky and dark. Repeat until all corn is roasted.

Add roasted corn to the bowl with other ingredients and squeeze the lime over the bowl. Now you can stir it! Serve with tortilla chips.

Karen's Seafood Spread

This creamy spread is so good most people won't guess it's got seafood in it. The last time I made it my sister ate a bunch of it, thought it was great, and then of course decided it was G-ross when I told her it had crab in it.

1 6.5 oz can crab
1 cup grated swiss cheese
1/2 cup mayonaisse
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. worchestershire sauce
Dash of paprika

Mix all ingredients well. This can be served cold or warm, with crackers. This can also be made with canned tuna or shrimp, but I've only had it with crab.

Sally's Shrimp Dip

My friend Sally used to make us this as a treat for those awfully boring work days. It's awesome.

1 lb. fresh baby shrimp
1 jar cocktail sauce
1 tomato, diced
1 small onion, diced
1-2 jalapeno peppers, diced
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
Juice of one lemon

Mix all ingredients well. Serve with tortilla chips.

Yum, yum yum yum yum!