Friday, July 16, 2010

Avalon Acres: Glorious Summer Corn!

Posted by Megan / no comments » / csa

This week’s box included an array of summer delights, including tomatoes, red potatoes, corn, cucumbers, green peppers, yellow squash and zucchini. I was smitten by the beautiful ears of corn, and decided that this week’s recipes would revolve around it. I had wanted to create a few versions of salad with corn, so here are some pictures of my experimentation:

Since I was in the midst of a “clean out the pantry/fridge” movement, I elected to take a general idea and run with it, rather than following a recipe. I surveyed my kitchen to see what items I could use and ended up creating 2 very different corn salads based on beans, and red onion. The first was a black bean and corn salad with tomatoes, which turned out a lot like pico de gallo, minus the kick of jalapenos. This was delicious served with a side of blue corn chips!

The second was a garbanzo and corn salad with vinaigrette dressing.  This one would be perfect with a side of green salad and served atop a bed or rice, or inside a pita. For both preparations I cooked the corn first by boiling to bring out the natural sweetness, then carefully removed it from the cob, saving as much as the kernel as possible. (Grilling would work wonderfully as well!)

So as not to disappoint those of you looking for new recipes for using your summer corn bounty, let me also share 2 very different preparations I look forward to trying with next week’s box of goodness. Both recipes are from www.vegetariantimes.com

Confetti Rice Salad

Serves 6

• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 1 tsp. whole cumin seeds
• 1 clove garlic, crushed and peeled
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 small orange bell pepper, finely chopped (1 cup)
• 1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 large tomato, chopped (11/2 cups)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 2/3 cup chopped green onions (1 bunch)
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 3 Tbs. olive oil
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, optional
• 1/2 avocado, diced, optional

Directions

1. Combine rice, cumin, and 2 cups water in saucepan. Add garlic and salt, cover, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 15 minutes, or until rice is tender and most of water is absorbed. Remove from heat, sprinkle bell pepper on top, cover, and cool rice in pan.
2. Transfer rice to large bowl, and remove garlic clove. Stir in beans, tomato, corn, green onions, lime juice, and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in sunflower seeds and avocado, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

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Cold French Lentil Salad
Serves 6

• 1 cup green lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. dried dill
• 3 celery stalks, finely diced (1 cup)
• 1 cup peeled and diced cucumber
• 1/3 cup finely diced fennel bulb
• 1/2 cup frozen corn (of course I used fresh!), thawed
• 1/2 cup diced white onion

Directions
1. Bring lentils, bay leaf, and 3 cups water to a boil in saucepan. Reduce heat to medium -low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, or until lentils are tender. Drain, remove bay leaf, and cool.

2. Whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic, mustard, and dill in bowl. Stir in lentils, celery, cucumber, fennel, corn, and onion. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

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Celebrate the summer with the finest of vegetables: Yellow Corn! And let us know about your favorite corn preparation.

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