back when I was active in our local Grange and putting together the annual county fair exhibit, I decided to do one on common fruits and vegetables that originated in the Americas. The geek has been intrigued by the origins of agriculture around the world & you can check into "List of food origins" on wiki to see how far & wide some foods have traveled.

Corn, amaranth & quinoa were major grains; potatoes, jicama & sunchokes (tuberous sunflowers) provided another source of starch along with beans.

So.. from the various corn varieties we get corn meal, masa (ground hominy)and sweet corn. These become corn bread or muffins, hoe cakes, hush puppies, pozole, tortillas, grits, polenta, corn pudding, corn on the cob and succatash. I probably left some out... lol.. like corn chowder which uses either sweet corn or hominy (Iroquois style).

Beans can be used fresh as "green beans" or wait 'til the seeds mature and harvest fresh or wait 'til they dry and can be stored for use later. Refried beans are a staple for many Mexicans and when eaten with torillas - made from masa- provide a very complete protein source.

Salsa is a classic - salsa verde (green) made with tomatillos, onions & garlic or salsa caseras (red) made with ripe tomatoes, onions & garlic... perked up with lime juice or cilantro you can add black beans or blackeyed peas or sweet corn to get a wonderful side dish - be sure to plenty of tortilla chips to scope it up.