Cranberry-Avocado Salsa tasty extra for holiday meal

Dear Laura: Could you please get me a recipe for Cranberry Salsa? I had one and lost it and would really like it again. Thanks. – Judy, Spokane

Dear Judy: Cranberry Salsa makes a nice addition to a Thanksgiving meal, especially for those looking for a new twist on the classic side dish. There are many recipes available, but most are only slightly different from one another. Here are two recipes I found. The first is a tasty, make-ahead recipe originally published in Bon Appetit magazine a couple of years ago. The second, published in The Spokesman-Review last fall, would be ideal for a last-minute, throw-together salsa.

Cranberry-Avocado Salsa

From www.Epicurious.com, originally published in Bon Appetit, Dec. 2002

Make the salsa at least an hour (and as much as a day) before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

1 yellow bell pepper

1 (12-ounce) bag fresh or frozen cranberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

1 medium jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoons grated orange peel

2 ripe avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Salt and pepper, to taste

Char bell pepper over gas flame or under broiler until blackened on all sides. Enclose in a paper bag 10 minutes. Peel, seed and chop bell pepper.

Combine cranberries, sugar and orange juice in food processor. Using pulse setting, coarsely chop cranberries. Transfer to medium bowl. Add bell pepper, jalapeno and orange peel. (Can be prepared to this point 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Stir avocados and cilantro into salsa. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Note: For a little more heat, add another jalapeno.

Yield: About 3 1/2 cups

Approximate nutrition per 1/2 cup serving (using 1/4 teaspoon salt): 160 calories, 7.8 grams fat (1.2 grams saturated, 44 percent fat calories), 1.4 grams protein, 24 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 4.7 grams dietary fiber, 79 milligrams sodium.

Cranberry Salsa

From “America’s Best RV Cookbook,” published in The Spokesman-Review, Nov. 22, 2003

1 cup salsa

1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce

Mix salsa and whole berry cranberry sauce. Serve room temperature or chilled.

Yield: About 1 1/2 cups

Approximate nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate due to recipe variable.

Dear Laura: Here is a very simple soup recipe. Perhaps you will share it with Shirley who asked for a Pork and Bean Soup. I developed this based on a Hawaiian Bean Soup that I enjoyed at a small neighborhood restaurant which is no longer in business. – Jean, Clarkston

Dear Jean: Thanks for sharing this tasty recipe. It’s a nice variation on bean soup.

Hawaiian Bean Soup

From Jean Carol Davis, Clarkston

1/2 cup finely diced onion

1/2 cup finely diced celery

1/2 cup finely diced carrot

2 cups chicken broth

2 (15-ounce) cans Van Camp’s Pork and Beans

1/2 (20-ounce) can crush pineapple

Simmer vegetables in broth until tender. Add pork and beans and pineapple. Heat to serving temperature.

Yield: About 6 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 158 calories, 1.2 grams fat (no saturated fat, 7 percent fat calories), 8.5 grams protein, 34.7 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 8 grams dietary fiber, 709 milligrams sodium.