Few people think of a Friday night alone as a fantastic opportunity, I’m glad that I’m not most people.
When my darling husband told me that he had to work late Friday night, I could hardly contain my excitement. This was the opportunity that I had been looking for, a night to prepare a meal for a king. Or, a night to prepare exactly what I had been wanting to eat, but isn’t it all the same?
Caught in the rain walking Danny after work only increased my excitement over the culinary extravaganza that was awaiting me. In my husband’s own words, he “is not as into the bean” as I am. For months I had been sitting on a recipe for a southwestern pizza. I was downright gleeful as we turned to head home, ignoring the rainbow behind me as I urged Danny to hurry.
At home, I washed my hands and stretched my neck from side to side, ready to begin. First, I put on the proper atmospheric music to create my mood and poured myself a glass of wine. I don’t know about you, but I love a little bluegrass when I’m getting into the kitchen. There’s nothing like the Steve Martin album “Love Has Come for You” to get me in the culinary mood. If I need to dance a little more, I ask Pandora to put together a rousing Harry Belafonte mix, but tonight, Edie Brickell sang to me while I worked up my masterpiece.
As I was taking a sip of wine and singing along with “When You Get to Ashville,” I looked closer at the recipe. It wasn’t quite what I had remembered it to be… BBQ sauce? Not at all what I had been envisioning. That’s when I left the road more travelled and ventured into the world of my imagination. My darling husband would definitely not be comfortable with this. He is a supporter of following recipes, which I find to be more of a template when it comes to meal preparation.
I tossed black beans with corn, added some chopped jalapeno and garlic – and let’s not forget my very own homegrown tomatoes. The more I looked at it, the more appalling the original recipe was became. Mozzarella on a southwestern pizza? That simply would not do. I sprinkled a Mexican cheese blend on top of my experiment. Baked for 10 minutes and served.
In less than 30 minutes, I had one of the most delicious meal I have ever eaten. And as I ate, Evie Briekll reminded me that the Sun Was Going to Shine again. It was a good Friday night.
Recipe:
1 – “mini” prepared pizza crust (I used Boboli)
~ 1 cup black beans (rinsed)
~ 1 cup corn (I used frozen)
1 good size tomato, chopped
1/2 seeded and chopped jalapeno
1-2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup Mexican cheese blend
Red pepper, salt & pepper to taste
Spread mixture on prepared pizza crust, bake at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy – candle optional, wine encouraged.
