This recipe is from Maria Menounos (she's on "Access Hollywood" -- I think!). It was featured on "The Nate Berkus Show" the other day and it looked so good that I wanted to try it. So I googled it and got the recipe. It's delicious and very healthy!

Ingredients:

1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced

1/2 cup Italian dressing, any kind you like (use fat-free or low-cal)

Two 15oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup chopped red onions

1 small green pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/4 cup of the mango with the Italian dressing until smooth. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the remaining mango with the beans, red onion, and peppers. To the bean mixture, add the mango puree. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and chill until ready to serve.

Note:

This makes a good side dish or a good snack. We added fresh chopped avocados to it and ate it with chips. It was so good!! But if you do add the avocados don't add them until ready to eat or else they'll brown. We also thought it would taste yummy with cilantro and corn in it. The possibilities are endless!!

Prize Winning Potato Salad

From the lovely Kaye Briggs. This is my momma's potato salad. I don't know that it has really won any awards, but it has been my summer go-to potluck side and I have been receiving compliments like crazy on it. I find this amusing considering the ingredients are super simple. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 3 lbs. new potatoes - cooked, peeled & cubed. (I like to chop my potatoes as tiny as possible for the salad).
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 Tbs. horseradish
• 2 Tbs. chopped parsley
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 1 bunch of green onions sliced thin
• 8 hard cooked eggs 6-8 slices of bacon

You can top with sliced hard cooked eggs and paprika for presentation.

**I usually just cook however many potatoes I think I need to feed the number of people and add bacon, eggs, and onions accordingly. Also, lately I have been substituting or adding in Greek yogurt to the light mayo and light sour cream. So I do 1 part mayo, 1 part sour cream, 1 part greek yogurt and I eyeball the horseradish.

Smoky Potato Salad

I must confess I am definitely not one for making up recipes. I do add things into recipes, but never making it up. This one I "adapted" from Rachael Ray. She had it as a warm potato salad, which you just poured the the dressing over, but I made into the potato salad and added bacon and eggs like my mom's.

Ingredients

• 1 large red bell pepper
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 1/2 lbs. large red potatoes, scrubbed, chopped in cubes, and cooked (or just for however many people you are feeding again)
• 4 hard cooked eggs, chopped
• 4 strips of bacon, chopped
• 2 Tbs. white wine vinegar
• 1/2 can corn
• 1/4 cup plain or Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 canned chipotle in adobo sauce, seeded and minced to a paste, plus 1/2-1 tsp adobo sauce
• 2 Tbs. chopped cilantro

Preparation

Rub pepper with oil and grill until charred. Toss potatoes with 1 Tbs. oil and salt.

In a small bowl, whisk together: yogurt, mayo, chipotle, adobo sauce, and salt.

Chop egg, bacon, cilatnro and red pepper. Add everything together and mix and toss.

**May also char corn in oil in pan over the stove to add more smoky flavor.

Bow Tie Chicken Pasta

This is a such a yummy summer salad. It's a great salad to serve at like a luncheon, reception, or shower. It does make a lot, so you can half it and be fine.

4 chicken breasts, boiled and cubed
1-2 cups grapes, cut in half
2 cups celery, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
1 1-lb pkg bow tie pasta
1 head romaine lettuce
1/2 can cashews
16-oz bottle coleslaw dressing
1 cup mayonnaise

Mix ingredients together reserving lettuce and cashews until just before serving (they get soggy). Best if served cold. (I did the pasta and chicken the night before and then refrigerated it so it would be cold for the salad the next day).

Tabbouleh with Chickpeas & Artichokes

I made this salad instead of the cucumber salad with Hoisin Chicken. It is really good the longer you let it sit. However, next time I will definitely half the recipe. It is still sitting in a big stew pot because I had nothing else big enough to mix it in. I'm happy to eat it for lunch & dinner the rest of the week and just switch out my main dishes.

Tabbouleh with Chickpeas and Artichokes

• 2 cups bulgur wheat
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 pound dried chickpeas, cooked according to package directions
  (or about 3 cups canned chickpeas, rinsed)
• 2 cucumbers, peeled and diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 3 tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 14 ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• Zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Handful of basil leaves, chopped
• Handful of fresh Italian parsley leaves, chopped
• Handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Combine the bulgur wheat and the water in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then reduce the mixture to a simmer. Cook the bulgur for approximately 15 minutes until all of the water has been absorbed. Set aside to cool. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Rinse the chickpeas and transfer them to the mixing bowl with the cooled bulgur. Add the cucumbers, red onion, tomatoes, and artichoke hearts.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the juice from the 2 lemons and the olive oil. Add the dressing to the bulgur and vegetable mixture. Add in the chopped herbs and toss all of the ingredients together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour prior to serving.

Super Easy Sides

Well, tonight we were dying to go out to eat, but luckily I watched an old episode of 30 minute meals of Rachel Ray and I got the ingredients for these sides that looked delicious and they were really good and so quick. We are so lucky to live next Snider's meat market on Highland and about 6200 South. So I just had a couple Sweet Bourbon Chicken Breasts on the side.

BLT Salad (my new fave ingredient is Balsamic Vinegar)
Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle
• 6 slices thick cut bacon, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, grated or minced and crushed with flat blade of a knife
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons chopped chives
• 1 large heart romaine lettuce
• 1 head Traviso lettuce or radicchio
• 1 pint multi colored, red or yellow cherry tomatoes

Directions: Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add bacon, cook until crisp then drain on paper towels.

In a salad bowl, whisk together the garlic, mustard, vinegar and stream in extra-virgin olive oil to incorporate the dressing, season with salt and pepper and stir in chives. Shred lettuces and add to the bowl. Halve the cherry tomatoes and add to the bowl along with bacon. Toss salad to coat evenly with dressing and serve.

Roasted Thick Potato Chips

Ingredients:

• 2 large Idaho potatoes, scrubbed
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing potatoes
• 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons grill seasoning

Directions: Heat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Thinly slice the potatoes lengthwise 1/8-inch thick. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on nonstick baking sheet. Brush the potatoes with extra-virgin olive oil, rosemary and grill seasoning. Bake potatoes turning once 25 minutes until crisp.

Doug and I actually thought the seasoning was a little too strong. Honestly, I think they would be good with just a little salt and pepper. Another way to cook potato fries at home is to whip egg whites together until fluffy and toss the potatos (cut like spears). Salt and pepper to taste. Cook at 375 or 400 degrees until golden brown, turning once. So this isn't the exact recipe, but I did get it from What to Expect When You're Expecting. We've made those a few times and when I was pregnant, I liked them with mustard! I really don't like mustard that much.