Corn Salsa - The People's Choice Award Winner!

When our nieces and nephews come to visit us (which is frequently and we love every minute we get to spend with them!), we always have a house full of food ready for these always-hungry visitors! And the most requested snack food? Laurie’s famous corn salsa – a perineal favorite! Anyone can make this quick and easy recipe – here’s how!

We absolutely love our nieces and nephews – they are all awesome humans, and we love spending time with them. So, when they visit, we want to make sure they are spoiled rotten and want for nothing! It isn’t always easy though. For example, we usually end up having to take out a loan to ensure we have enough money to buy all the food they consume during their visits!

Who knew such thin people could eat so much? While most normal people eat three meals a day, some of our nieces and nephews who visit (and/or their spouses or significant others – I won’t name names here, …!) keep a modified eating schedule that consists of a pre-breakfast coffee snack, breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, early afternoon snack, late afternoon snack, pre-dinner snack, dinner, desert, post-desert snack, midnight snack (and what happens after that, we don’t know but we assume they are still chewing when they finally fall asleep at night)!

 They have a long list of favorite snacks that we make for each visit (Smores cookies, chocolate-peanut butter-pretzel bars, muffin tin donuts to name a few), but the favorite – the People’s Choice Award – seems to be Laurie’s corn salsa served with Tostito Scoops. We actually have a hard time keeping this item “in stock” when they visit, often making two and three batches over a 2–3-day period. Don’t get me wrong – Laurie loves every minute of it and would be heartbroken if they didn’t clamor for it and constantly ask for “just one more batch” – but the consumption rate is truly impressive and speaks to how delicious this recipe really is!

Laurie makes this salsa from memory without measuring out any of the ingredients and it always turns out perfect. So, I asked her to write out the ingredients and amounts for each as she made it so we could capture the recipe and get it out of her head and onto paper. After that, it just so happened that our nephew Christopher came to FL to visit us for a week and helped us refine the recipe to ensure it accurately reflects Laurie’s perfect batches of the salsa (what a sacrifice – thanks so much Christopher!). So, without further ado, here is the recipe for Laurie’s famous corn salsa – enjoy and just know you won’t be able to stop at just one batch!!

Laurie’s Corn Salsa (Serves 6)

This appetizer/snack couldn’t be any easier – just dump all the ingredients into a large bowl, stir to combine, and let rest in the refrigerator for an hour to give all the flavors time to meld. You can adjust the heat level by adding more jalapeno if you want a spicier salsa. Also, the amount of lime juice can be adjusted as well to add more tang if you’d like.

Ingredients

1 16 oz. bag frozen corn

1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained well

1 15 oz. can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained well

1 4 oz. jar diced pimentos, rinsed and drained well

½ large red onion, diced

1 medium jalapeno, finely diced with ribs and seeds included (if you want it spicier, add another jalapeno)

2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, minced

1 tsp. Kosher salt

5 tbsp. fresh squeezed lime juice (about 1 ½ to 2 limes), more to taste if desired

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Tostitos Scoops (Party size bag!)

Directions

Place all the ingredients, except the Tostitos Scoops, in a large bowl and stir to combine. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for at least one hour and ideally for 2-3 hours before serving. Make sure to stir the salsa and let it sit out at room temperature for 15-30 minutes before serving with the Tostitos Scoops.