Nacho Salad

There are many variations of Cowboy Caviar but this one is very different. League President Ruth Ann Hogan named it "Nacho Salad". We worked up an appetite after inventorying 3,000 cookbooks at the Museum so this was a welcome lunch.

It was created by combining three recipes - Black Bean and White Corn Salad page 183, and Cowboy Caviar page 180, and my friend, Gina Day's recipe. Kathleen Fischer told me to make it the day before so the spices marinate. Served with tortilla chips it is perfect for a Super Bowl party or any gathering.

Vinaigrette
1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

Salad
1-2 bunch(s) cilantro, trimmed
3 (14 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (16 ounce) package frozen white corn
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
1 (4 ounce) can diced chiles
12 black olives chopped
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
8 ounces (1/3 less fat) Neufchatel cream cheese
1/3 cup fat free Half & Half
2 ripe avocados mashed
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 hard boiled egg

Vinaigrette: Combine vinegar, lime juice, olive oil, sugar, salt, pepper, chiles in a jar. Shake well.

Salad: Combine beans, corn, onions and black olives in a salad bowl. Pour vinaigrette over and refrigerate for 2-12 hours.

When ready to serve, blend Neufchatel cheese, Half & Half and mashed avocados together. Spread cheese/avocado mixture onto large platter with sides. Drain salad mixture well, then layer over cheese/avocado mixture.

Top with circle of shredded cheddar cheese, circle of chopped cilantro and fill center with chopped hard boiled egg.

Super Bowl Game Day

It is hard to live in Phoenix now and NOT be a Cardinal fan today. Everyone is wearing Cardinal red. We are having a Super Bowl party and I went right to Tastes & Treasures cookbook for food ideas. Cowboy Caviar seemed like a great choice and it is very tasty. I borrowed Cumin from my neighbor and bought Coriander in the grocery store aisle under Mexican foods. It is tiny balls so I crushed it with a rolling pin. The two flavors are interesting. I would have never used them but am glad I did. The dressing also calls for fresh garlic. Okay...it is confession time. I have never used fresh garlic and did not know how to do it. Thank goodness my daughter in law is such a great cook. I had watched her mince garlic cloves but then I could not find the garlic press. Knowing it was buried in the draw of utensils that I rarely used, I began to look. Found a cherry pitter, lemon juicer, apple sectioner. Then I got lucky and found one half of the garlic press. After much digging (you can tell by now that I don't cook much) the other half appeared and I was good to go. Except one garlic clove seemed like a lot so I stopped there. Oh well. This is a new version of Cowboy Caviar. Then two avocados did not seem like enough so I added another. Love them in anything. And the aroma of fresh cut cilantro is yummy. This is a photo of our good friend, Earlene Alauria, holding Cardinal cupcakes and me with the Cowboy Caviar ...Go Cards.

AZ Cardinals Football Frenzy from Jeannine Moyle, League President

Today, January 30, in the midst of the frenzy around the historic event of the Arizona Cardinals going to the SUPERBOWL, a small but very interested group met at the AHS Museum to listen to Mack Gilchrist and three of his close friends in the football business. The four of them total together over 120 years serving their profession of Football Officials in the PAC 10 (Pacific Athletic Conference).

Dick Schnell and Chuck Czubin are from Seattle, WA; Fred Galagher is from Long Beach, CA and Mack lives here in the Valley. They did explain that they never officiated at a game in their home state or one involving their alma mater.

Among those who attended, there were some with loads of knowledge on football and some with a slight clue about the game but they all enjoyed the information and antics sparked by lively discussion. Everyone came away with something that they never knew before. i.e. “lateral” is a word not in the rule books. A pass is either a “forward pass” or a “backward pass”. Any pass that goes to lateral is a “forward pass”.

Of the seven positions for the Officials, each one concentrates only on the area they are officiating. Depending on their position they may never know how or where the ball was received. The Referee concentrates ONLY on the Quarterback and is considered his ‘protector’. There were many tidbits of information and a lot of personal experiences that made for a fun guest speaker keeping everyone in the “football frame of mind”.