Salsa For a Crowd

Here is the story behind this really easy salsa for a crowd (you know that I always have a story).  Twice a month I provide snacks for after-school staff meetings.  Originally our principal provided the snacks – usually chocolate – but I guess he tired of it and passed the task to me because I am the staff social committee “chair”.  In reality I am the staff social committee.  I determined that we should vary the snacks and make them healthier.  Donations are solicited to cover costs which we recently raised by $5.00.  But you, my readers, could care less about our school workings.  You care about my latest recipe or food discovery. So please indulge me as I’m just setting the scene.

We have had too many bowls of parmesan cheese dusted on popcorn or cheese and crackers  so this time, I wanted to do something different.  A friend told me about a corn and bean salsa from Trader Joe’s that they recently tried.  Although Trader Joe’s prices are fairly reasonable, I knew that to feed salsa to 30+ hungry staff members this would have to be from “scratch” to keep within our budget.  Leftovers – not a bit!

Corn and Black Bean Salsa for a Crowd

1 can petite diced tomatoes in sauce (if you can find the diced tomatoes with jalapeno and want a bit more kick, go for it!)

1 15-ounce can corn, drained

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 bunch green onions, chopped*

1 bunch cilantro, chopped* (optional)

1 bottle medium heat salsa

2 TBSP chili powder

Optional (raises the $$) – chopped avocados, chopped red-bell pepper, 1 seeded, chopped jalapeno

Mix all the ingredients together and let sit, to blend flavors, for an hour or more.

* An easy way to chop green onions and cilantro is to cut them into tiny bits with scissors.

Have plenty of corn tortilla chips on hand – I made a double recipe of the salsa and folks flew threw 1 ½ large bags of chips.  So I have more chips than salsa left over and I expected to have lots of salsa left.