Date Night Dinners - Side Dish, Maybe

10/03/2014 tringel 0 Comments

You may remember from last week that I kind of skimped out on you in terms of a date night dinner. If you don't remember, here is a brief recap and news update: I moved, eek! And it took me quite a bit longer to do so then anticipated, so instead of gracing you with a fabulous new recipe prepared in my new, suave looking kitchen, I tried to make my way to the door with out tripping over the dozens of boxes strewn across my living room so that I could get some grub with my Brenden and my mom after shopping for all the supplies I would need to do basic functionalities. You know, like, laundry detergent to wash my clothes, or a broom to sweep the floor, or in the case of this blog series, a knife to chop up some vegetables. Who would have thought I would be at such a loss?


Well I have made some progress since last week, although I do still have a ridiculous amount of boxes scattered across my floor, the kitchen and my closet have come together quite well, Okay, maybe just my kitchen - I have a lot of clothes. Either way step one was taken care of, a kitchen filled with supplies to cook with. The next step was getting used to the kitchen and getting over my exhaustion from moving so that I could create something great. After a few days of munching on random findings and eating out a bit the anticipation ended; I decided what the first meal in my new kitchen would be. And, that first night happened to fall on date night.

Drum roll please. We made butternut squash ravioli, yumm! Sounds great right, perfect for fall and perfect for new dish in a new kitchen, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Like I said, I have been exhausted. Sleeping in my new apartment just hasn't been the same, and I am not one of those people who can somehow thrive on sleep deprivation. I am quite the opposite actually, so I was pretty happy when I found this package of pre-made butternut squash ravioli for a decent price at Wegmans. Do not fear, I still have a recipe for you. We of course needed a side, so I put it in Brenden's hands to pick out a perfect pair for the pasta, along with a sauce to heat the pasta up in.

Here is an introduction to the side dish went...

{On the phone}
Brenden: I found this good sounding corn and pepper salad.
Me: Yum sounds good to me.

{looking through the grocery bag}
Me: You got Doritos?!
Brenden: Yeah, they call for them in the recipe.
Me: How much?
Brenden: The whole bag.
Me: What? What else is in it?
Brenden: Pretty much just the corn, onion, and pepper, mixed with mayo and Doritos for flavoring, it sounded good to me!
Me: It does not sound appetizing at all to me, but I am glad you know me well enough to verbally spin it in a way I'll agree to it over the phone...let's give it a shot.

{my instant thoughts: I LOVE Doritos, but I cannot have them in the house because I will eat them all (which I quickly proved to Brenden)! And I almost always despise mayo. A favorite and a least favorite combined in one dish, this should be interesting.}


Brenden mixed up the quick side dish as I heated up the ravioli in a Merlot Marinara Brenden picked. I watched the salad come together. It was looking great, vibrant yellow, bright orange, and deep purple from the corn, pepper and onion stared at me. My mouth began to water as the aroma filling the room reached my nose. And then came time to add the mayo, oh and ranch dressing. I felt my arteries clogging already, but I was trying to keep an open mind. Next Brenden crushed most of the Doritos and tossed them in with 2 cups of extra shredded cheese, you know, because we hadn't made a potentially healthy dish bad enough for us already. Brenden got artistic and lined up the left over chips and placed some of the salad in the middle, almost like a dip. It was time to try the concoction.

I was anxious. I grabbed a spoonful and smelled it...not too bad. I closed my eyes and tried a bite. I started chewing, the flavors hitting my tastebuds, and to my surprise, as I swallowed, I realized I was already addicted. The flavors combined well and the mayo was not overpowering. Now I definitely would not call this a salad, or make this as a side dish again, but as a Super Bowl finger food, this will definitely be on the menu.

We took our "corn and pepper salad," filled our plates with pasta and sauce, and grabbed some cheese bread we whipped up and went to eat. We found a spot on the floor between some boxes and gobbled down the first home cooked meal in my new place, analyzing the successes and failures of the meal. One perk, it was easy enough to eat on the floor. Maybe I will have to invest in a table and chairs sooner then I thought...but for now, bon appetite!

Corn and Dorito Dip
Recipe adapted from: freerecipenetwork.com, Doritos Taco Corn Salsa Salad 

Ingredients

• 2 cans corn, drained
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 1 medium bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 medium red onion, diced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 - 10 oz. bag Doritos

Directions

1. Mix everything together except the Doritos.
2. Spread about 1/4 of the Doritos in a ring on a serving dish as garnish.
3. Coarsely crush the remaining Doritos in the bag.
4. Mix the crushed chips in with the corn mixture.
5. Place the finished mixture in the middle of the ring of Doritos on the serving plate.
6. Dig in with chips or a fork.