Summertime...and the livin's easy.....

And happy weekend to you!  I started to write this post last night, and I'm ashamed to admit that, well...I'm no quite the party animal that I used to be on Friday nights.  So, um, I may have been in bed asleep by 11pm.  Yikes.  No judging-remember, I'm doing everything for 2.
Well, it mostly paid off, because even though I was up 3 separate times to LMNO last night (seriously, can we really discuss the concept of preggo diapers??) I woke up pretty ready to go this morning.  Then I looked outside.  Yikes.  What a rainy day.  Now usually, I'm a big fan of dancing in the rain....but Greg and I are going to a retirement party today for a couple of my favorite Polish cousins, so I hope it clears up soon!  They're going with a N'Awlins themed par-tay, which means the food and music will be Cajun- can't wait to see whats served up!
In order to help out, I was enlisted to bring an appetizer, so I dug out the ole NOLA charm (okay, not really) and came up with this simple summer salad.....

Beans n Corn NOLA style (serves 12)

2 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups corn (I used frozen, canned would work as well)
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp minced cilantro
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp black pepper

Easiest salad ever- mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Stir, stir stir.  Stick it in the fridge for at least 12 hours to develop flavor throughout.

I'm not embarrassed to say that I *may* have given this the spoon test over my eggs this morning.  And it passed with flying colors - perfect for a summer picnic.  No need to heat, easy to serve, and stays stable outside for a few hours.  Plus...did I mention the ease of "cooking"?  Win, win win.  Now if we could only get some of that summer sunshine out.....but hey, you can't have it all :-)  NOLA pics comin' tomorrow!

Do you have a go-to summer picnic salad?