Mama's Sweet Slaw

My mother gave me this recipe and I absolutely love it. It's super easy (only takes about 10 minutes) and delicious. And it's a great alternative for people who don't like mayo. Plus, in my humble opinion, this dish is really great the next day. So you could make it the day before a party and stress less.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 cup white vinegar

1 package ramen noodles (chicken flavor)

1 small package slivered almonds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

2-3 green onions, chopped

1 package cole slaw mix

Directions:

Turn your oven to broil. Before opening the ramen noodles package, break up the noodles as much as possible in the package. You want them to be in tiny pieces. In a small bowl, mix oil, sugar, vinegar, and the seasoning packet from the ramen noodles. Set aside. In a bigger bowl, combine cole slaw mix, green onions and sunflowers seeds. Pour the broken ramen noodles (uncooked) on a cookie sheet along with the almonds. Broil them until golden brown. Be sure to watch them carefully because this only takes a few minutes. When the noodles and almonds are done, add them to the cole slaw mix. Then pour in the oil and vinegar mixture and mix together so everything is evenly coated. Be sure to do this when the noodles are hot.

Try it with: burgers, barbecue, sandwiches, or anything else you would normally eat with cole slaw.

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

My husband Daniel thinks I should jar this stuff and sell it. He loves it so much that one batch lasts less than a day. It's fresh, sweet and has a little zing at the end from the chipotle chiles. The recipe sounds complicated, but it's really just a little chopping and dropping and then letting everything simmer. It takes less than half an hour to make. Try it at your next gathering. I'd be surprised if there are any leftovers.

Ingredients:
1-2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped (seeds removed)
1 tablespoon honey
juice of one lime
2-3 tablespoons butter
half a red onion, diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 cup corn kernels (frozen)
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
half a teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
half a teaspoon paprika
half of a 15 oz. can of black beans (with liquid mostly drained)
1 15 oz. can roasted tomatoes (do not drain)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions:
In a small sauce pan, bring about 2 cups of water to a simmer. Add chipotle chiles, honey and lime juice. Let it reduce by about half. Meanwhile, in a larger pot, melt about 2 tablespoon of butter (or oil if you prefer) over medium heat. Add corn and let it get brown around the edges. Reduce heat a little and add garlic, onion, red bell pepper, cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt and pepper (to taste). If the pot is a little too dry, just add another pad of butter or another splash of oil. Let all the veggies soften (3 to 5 minutes), then add the tomatoes and the black beans. Bring to a simmer. Now take the chiles and the liquid in the smaller pot and add it to the larger pot. Let it all simmer together until the liquid has reduced by about half. Then, add the vinegar and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

Optional: You can also stir in some chopped cilantro at the end.

Try this: This salsa is delicious on top of a piece of breaded and fried fish fillet. I like to add a little chili powder and lime zest to the bread crumbs. Dunk the fish in egg, then in the bread crumbs and pan fry it. Then pour the salsa on top and enjoy. Yummy!

Made with love from the Phelps kitchen.

Welcome to Chez Phelps. Party of two?

If there's one thing my family and friends know about me, it's that I love to cook. I have no formal training. I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. But I absolutely LOVE food. A delicious dish brings me excitement and joy! (In fact, I don't trust people who don't get excited about food, and I really hate picky eaters. ) I'm almost always willing to try something once, including new recipes. As a result, I don't think my husband eats the same meal twice in a month's time. However, I'm starting to build a collection of favorite recipes. They're usually simple and made with affordable ingredients. And many times they involve a technique that can be used with a variety of ingredients so you can make the dish different every time if you like.

My husband always says my best dishes are the ones that I make up on the fly, either out of necessity or boredom. But what fun is a family recipe if you don't share it, right? (people with so-called secret recipes are just narcissists)

So here I go - jumping on the blog bandwagon with my very own cooking blog. Greetings and love from the kitchen of Laura Phelps, better known as "Chez Phelps."
Stay tuned for recipes.