Party Food - Appetizer Crack

Beer and Chips? Check. Ice cube tray that makes Bullet shaped ice cubes? Check. Appetizer? Ooops. What to make. How about what was quickly labeled "Appetizer Crack".

The first time I made this Tam, Roberta X and Data Viking and myself stood at my kitchen island and pretty much polished off the large bowl. The kitchen timer then went off and I looked at the oven and said "Dinner's ready". Everyone was too full to eat. It's that good. A couple of readers have tried it from the sidebar recipe collection and confirmed it resulted in an empty bowl.


This is the perfect time of year to make it with an assortment of fresh produce on hand.

2 cups roasted corn (do your own or Trader Joe's has it frozen in a bag, just thaw first)
2 cans black beans - drained and rinsed
2 red peppers
2 green peppers
2 Roma tomatoes - chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and finely diced.
1 cup chopped cilantro. I didn't "pack it down" in the cup, just dropped it in loosely until it looked like about one cup.
1 medium to med/large red onion - chopped (but not one of those Jabba the Hut sized onions).


DRESSING

juice of 4 limes (if you use bottled lime juice, try and find the Key West brand, use 8 tablespoons).
2 Tablespoons APPLE CIDER vinegar
1 clove garlic (if you used the minced fresh in the jar, the amount to equal a clove is on the jar, about 2 tsp).
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
few grinds of fresh pepper,
1/4 (roughly) teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ancho chili powder (I used Penzey's, if you absolutely can't find ancho chili powder, use regular chili powder)
2 Tablespoons wild honey
1/2 cup light or extra virgin olive oil


Directions:

Wash all the produce well. Chop and combine all the fresh veggies, the corn and the beans. Chill while mixing dressing. Mix all dressing ingredients except the olive oil. In a thin stream, while using a whisk like you mean it, slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whipping it until it is emulsified . Pour over veggies and stir well, chill at least two hours, re-stir and serve with chips or celery to scoop up (for the carb conscious).


All you need now are some tunes. Remember nothing says party like good food and a Kevlar boom box. Seriously.