Fresh Tart

Sweet is good, but salty-sweet is better.

As Minnesota State Fair goers know, grilling makes corn even cornier, drying the kernels a bit and concentrating their flavor to sweet, chewy heaven. Sliced off the cob, tossed with crunchy onion, fresh cilantro, a squirt of lime - and salt of course! - this salsa is just lovely summer food. I thought I'd be tempted to add fresh chiles to the mix but you know what? I think the salsa is better without the heat.

The corn is the salty-sweet star here, just the way it should be.

Recipe for Grilled Corn Salsa, via fellow Minnesota Food Blogger Angharad Guy/Eating for England, on Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Here are the veggies and herbs (from my LaFinca veggie share) that I have to play with this weekend:

carrots
fennel
green beans
corn
kale
tomatoes
cucumber
zucchini
summer squash
onions
basil
dill

The carrots and fennel are terrific additions to a packet of Potatoes on the Grill. Summer squash would be nice too. In addition, I love steamed carrots with a little butter and lots of fresh dill and lemon.

The green beans, oh man, I'm so roasting half of them for Roasted Vegetable Panzanella, one of my very favorite meals. The other half I'll save for Spicy Braised Green Beans, which calls for tomato and onion as well. Fried Walleye with some Spicy Braised Green Beans? Ohhh, now that's a summer meal. What night can I pull that off? Might have to wait until Monday...

I didn't feel like boiling a big pot of water last night, just for John and me, so I sliced the kernels off of a couple of ears of corn and sauteed them quickly in a bit of browned butter (adds a lovely, nutty flavor). Salt and pepper, done. Easy and sooo yummy. I think I'll do the same for the kids tomorrow night.

The basil is going to become a small batch of pesto - I like to have a bit on hand for stirring into sauteed corn (stir in a diced tomato with the pesto, so pretty). Or for swirling into Instant Vegetable Soup (an assortment of vegetables grated together, brought to a quick simmer with water, and finished off with a sprinkle of cheese; delicious and very nutritious, and also a good way to use up veggie-share veggies!), which makes a perfect, quick lunch.

The cucumber already became Cucumber-Mint Raita, and I already ate it, ha. Ditto for the zucchini (see below for Zucchini-Tomato Gratin).

The kale, hmmm, there's not much of it so I'll probably just saute it with garlic, then steam it with a small amount of water until it's quite tender. With salt and pepper, and a drizzle of good balsamic, it's pretty hard to beat. Even if no one else in my family thinks so...

Yeah. It's shaping up to be a very colorful, healthy, moderate (no parties, no party food!) weekend. Yay, my butt lurves veggies!