Bean and Corn Salad

Hello all! I hope that everyone has been having a great long weekend! It was a fun one for me- especially since I went to a party on Saturday to celebrate my best friend’s 30th birthday!! It was so much fun just hanging out, eating yummy Mexican food (she had it catered by a local Mexican place), and even trying my hand at busting open a pinata! That’s something I don’t think I’ve ever done- even when I was a kid. It was totally disorienting, and I’m sure that I looked like a fool as I awkwardly stumbled around swinging a bat.

I’m still trying to get back in the swing of things, and I definitely need to get back to regular posting on the blog, and sharing yummy recipes with you! This bean and corn salad was something I threw together for one of our potluck nights on vacation. I had an idea in mind of what would be going in it, as I’ve had similar salads in the past. I debated whether or not to cook the corn, or leave it raw, and you can definitely do either. The salad is very versatile, so you can work with what you have! Don’t have scallions? Use red onion! Don’t have lime juice? Use lemon! Have red or green bell peppers you want to use up? Chop them up, and throw them in there! Want it spicier? Leave in the jalapeno seeds! Whatever floats your boat 🙂

 

Bean and Corn Salad

Ingredients:

3 fresh ears of corn, kernels removed

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, diced

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed, minced

3 scallions, thinly sliced

Juice of 1 lime, freshly squeezed

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat, and add oil. When hot, add corn kernels to skillet, and saute, stirring frequently, until cooked, and starting to char a bit- about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the rinsed and drained beans, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno, and scallions. When cooled down, add corn. Mix in lime juice, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, or let sit for a little while to let flavors meld together!

Source: Original Recipe

Summer Vegetable Soup

Every week I try to make a healthy lunch that will last me for the week. I love not having to put something together every single night… and I feel much better about taking something homemade rather than store-bought (although sometimes in a pinch that stuff is awesome!). Soups make a great lunch. Usually they taste even better after sitting for a couple of days as it allows the flavors to meld together. This vegetable soup is a delicious, healthy, and very customizable recipe that made for an awesome lunch. You can use pretty much any vegetable you have on hand, mix and match depending on your own personal preferences, use up frozen vegetables from the freezer, and little bits of leftover pasta. This was a great recipe to use in my quest to clean out my fridge/freezer/pantry. I had an open bag of frozen peas that I threw into this, a bit of Israeli couscous, some red potatoes that were on their last hurrah, a can of cannellini beans that has been in my pantry forever, and all I had to buy was some zucchini, vegetable stock and green beans. You can throw in some diced sweet potatoes, fresh tomatoes instead of canned, yellow squash, spinach, leeks instead of onions… the sky’s the limit.

Summer Vegetable Soup

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, quartered and sliced thin

6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (or more, if desired to make the soup broth-ier)

1-2 small zucchinis, halved lengthwise and sliced into 1/4-inch pieces

1 (15-oz) can cannellini beans (or Navy beans)

5 small red potatoes, diced

1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)

1 cup corn (fresh or frozen)- I omitted this because I didn’t have any

1 cup green beans (fresh or frozen), cut into 1-inch pieces

1 (14-oz) can diced tomatoes, with juice

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

3/4 tsp Kosher salt

1/8 tsp tumeric

2-4 ounces Israeli couscous (or other small pasta shape), optional

2 Tbsp tomato paste

Directions:

1. Place a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and saute for 3-4 minutes, until softened.

2. Add the vegetable broth, zucchini, beans, potatoes, peas, corn, green beans, diced tomatoes and juice, salt, pepper, and tumeric. Bring to a boil, and then lower heat to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. If you are using pasta, add when there is about 10-15 minutes left of cooking time.

3. Remove from the heat, and stir in the tomato paste. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Source: barely adapted from Prevention RD (originally adapted from food.com)

Fresh Corn Pancakes

These are my favorite pancakes in the whole world. Decadent, buttery and bursting with the flavor of corn, they are perfect for the summer as a breakfast, or a side dish. You can serve them with maple syrup, sour cream and salsa, topped with more butter, or just plain (which is how I like them). They are definitely a treat, and I do want to find a healthier version of corn pancakes or fritters that I can eat more often, but every once in a while, you need some decadence in your life. These do use quite a few dishes, but they are quite easy to make, and other than the corn, which you’ll want to pick up fresh, the remaining ingredients are probably already in your pantry and refrigerator.

Fresh Corn Pancakes

Serves 4 (Makes about 12 pancakes)

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp sugar

3-4 ears of corn (enough to measure 2 cups of kernels)

3/4 cup whole milk

2 large eggs

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Directions:

1. Add the flour, baking powder and sugar to a large bowl and whisk together.

2. Cut off kernels from corn, until you have 2 cups. Scrape the pulp from the corn cobs with the back of your knife, and add it to your blender. Add the milk and 1/2 cup of the corn kernels to the blender with the pulp, and blend until smooth. Strain the corn/milk mixture through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a separate medium bowl. Add the eggs, vegetable oil, and cooled butter to the corn/milk mixture and whisk together.

3. Add the corn/milk mixture to the bowl with the flour and add the remaining corn kernels as well. Whisk together, just until combined.

4. Heat a large heavy pan, nonstick skillet, or griddle over medium-heat until hot. Grease with oil, and cook pancakes in batches, using 1/3-cup batter per pancake. Cook about 2 minutes on first side (until bubbles appear on the surface, and the bottom is golden-brown). Flip and cook another minute on the other side. Grease between batches if needed. Serve with desired accompaniments.

Source: Gourmet Magazine, July 2009