at home with ann

Yesterday we had an unseasonably warm day, and I couldn't be happier about it.  Sure, during the summer I complain about the humidity during a heat wave, and turn on the air conditioning upstairs for sleeping (it's for the baby ); but I'd take heat over cold any day.  This salad is the perfect combination of all the wonderful late summer food; sweet corn, crisp green beans, juicy tomatoes and fragrant basil.  It makes an excellent side dish, we ate it last night alongside broccoli quiche and roasted potatoes, and it is also a perfect light lunch.  Especially if, like me, you're planning to use up some random marshmallows and make rice crispy treats later.  Or, just be healthy.  Whichever. Green Bean, Corn and Tomato Salad modified from Self Salad Ingredients: 3-4 ears fresh corn, removed from cob 1 lb. green beans, blanched in boiling water and cut into bite size pieces 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced 1...

There is more corn.  And more corn to come.  I'm building up my freezer stash to help remind myself of August when it's snowing.  In the meantime, fresh salads like this are versatile, adaptable and delicious.  A couple weeks ago I was working on a different corn recipe; a summer squash and corn fritter.  My batter didn't hold together particularly well, and little pieces of corn were falling off into the pan.  As the oil in the pan got hotter, the corn kernels did as well, resulting in popping corn exploding all over the kitchen.  It ended with hurling the lid on the pan, running out of the room, and doing a full kitchen clean after dinner.   Needless to say, it didn't make it on the blog.  I'm happy to report that this recipe involved no corn-induced burns or late night swiffering.    Corn and Feta Couscous with Basil Vinaigrette based on Rachael Ray 1 cup couscous 3/4 cup basil leaves 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup red wine ...

I always thought corn chowder was kind of bland, which is why I hadn't made any yet this summer despite the abundance of corn.  But then, while flipping through the Pioneer Woman cookbook, I happened upon her recipe for Corn Chowder with Chilies .  Corn plus bacon, chipotles and chilies?  This was more up my alley.  I made it my own by subbing in the ingredients I had on hand (jalapenos instead of chilies and grilled corn instead of raw), and it was amazingly good.  It packed quite a kick, though, so much so that my brother-in-law, who ate a bowl after getting home late at night, was caught a bit off guard. He did confirm that it was delicious despite the somewhat mouth-burning quality. Between the time when I started writing this post yesterday and now we have picked up 8 more ears of corn from our CSA.  Might be making another batch this week.  Good thing I have a kitchen helper. Spicy Corn Chowder   Ingredients: 2 slices bacon, ...

It's that time of year when we have more tomatoes, corn and zucchini than we know what to do with.  We got 8 ears of corn and several pounds of tomatoes in our CSA pickup last week, so our meals have been all about corn, tomatoes, corn and tomatoes.  On Saturday we made homemade pizza (using this dough ) and topped it with fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella, corn and basil.  I really liked the addition of the corn on pizza, but I would recommend leaving the basil off until after baking because ours got kind of toasted. We were at the beach, so we used cookie trays instead of the pizza stone for baking, and we could totally tell the difference in crust crispiness.  Pizza stones are well worth the investment.  Also, taking crappy pictures with the flash in bad lighting doesn't do it any favors, but I wanted to give you an idea of what it looked like. Sunday night we had burgers, topped with tomatoes, and grilled corn on the cob.  I asked Jon to grill all t...

As far as I'm concerned, you can never have too much quinoa.  At the market the other day I was trying to decide between buying barbecue ribs for dinner or a giant bag of quinoa.  While I like ribs, I knew I'd get much more mileage (and nutrition!) out of the quinoa, so I did the virtuous thing.  This hasn't stopped me from dropping not-so-subtle hints to Jon about the barbecue stand I want to try, however.  I'll wear him down eventually.  Add anything you want to quinoa, stir in some sort of sauce or dressing, and you have a meal.  Perfect for summer.  This is a combination of fresh summer vegetables topped with the amazingly delicious Lemon Tahini Dressing from Oh She Glows .  We had this on it's own as a light entree one night, and the leftovers as a side dish for burgers.  And, you know me, I topped mine with goat cheese, but that's entirely optional.  Summer Quinoa 1 cup dried quinoa, rinsed 1 3/4 cup vegetable broth 1 larg...

For many years I thought I didn't like corn off the cob.  I'm not sure why, but I suspect it had something to do with canned corn at some point.  Last summer during the great CSA corn influx, when we were given 8 ears every two weeks for over a month, I gave it a try just to escape from under the sheer weight of corn piling up.  It's good!  And you don't need to follow it up with floss. Corn and Black Bean Salad is nothing new, in fact I've made a version of it before .  The variation this time was to grill the corn, though.  We had a grilled pork tenderloin this past weekend, and whenever Jon gets the grill fired up, I always have him toss on some sort of vegetable as well.   I love grilled vegetables, but I am scared of the grill because I think it's going to blow up in my face, and it seems silly to get the charcoal going just for a couple ears of corn.  All about the multi-tasking.  And not having things blow up in my face. To gr...

I am having a serious love affair with this month's Cooking Light.  After this I might be done, but only until the next issue comes out.  Cooking Light isn't giving me anything to sing their praises (I wish!), I just think they're awesome.  Even though a couple weeks ago on an especially sleep-deprived day they called me with an offer to review a new cookbook.  I'm usually strong and hold my ground, but this time I agreed just to get them to stop talking to me so I could try to get the baby to sleep.  Shrimp and Corn Cakes recipe adapted from Cooking Light  Makes 16 small cakes, serving size is 3 Ingredients: 1/3 cup cornmeal 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 3 cups corn kernels 1 Tablespoon milk 1 teaspoon lemon juice Zest of one lemon 2 teaspoons hot sauce 1 large egg 1 serrano chili, seeded and roughly chopped 1/3 cup red bell pepper, roughly chopped 12 ounces...

I may have mentioned before that raw chicken scares me.  I've made great strides against this somewhat irrational phobia in recent years, but I still avoid touching it if possible.  That is why this recipe is perfect for me, I don't have to touch anything raw and at the end of the day I get a tasty and healthy meal.  That's a success in my book.  I've made vegan Tortilla Soup before , which was great, but I was feeling something a little heartier. The only injury sustained while making this soup was burning my tongue while I was taste testing.   This has become something of a pattern lately.  I'm either eating at lightening speed because we are on the verge of a baby meltdown, or it takes me hours because I keep getting pulled away and grab a bite as I walk through the kitchen.  Even eaten a little too hot, this was delicious, definitely a keeper.  Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup 1 14 oz. can tomato sauce 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon ...

This salad went through a lot of different iterations in my head before I made it.  I started planning to make it a salad, then veggie burgers, then back to a salad.  Mostly I knew that with six ears of corn in the fridge and eight more arriving this week, I needed to make a recipe that involved corn.  Fast.  It could be considered a salsa, I suppose, but the black beans bulk it up a bit.  This was good. So good that I dug into it for dinner at 4:58. Southwestern Black Bean and Corn Salad Ingredients: 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 cup corn 1/2-1 cup chopped tomatoes Pickled jalapenos, chopped (to taste) 1/2 mango, cubed Dressing: equal parts (~1/4 teaspoon) chili powder, cumin, and coriander.  Sprinkle of salt.   Equal amounts lime juice and olive oil. Mix everything together and drizzle with dressing.  I served with a scoop of guacamole and some tortilla chips for scooping.  Because food you can scoop = good. ...

We had so much corn last week from our CSA.  So much corn that I made the hilarious pun that we have corn coming out of our ears and got a pity laugh.  I think.  In any case, eight ears of corn is a lot for two people to manage.  I used one ear in the Cucumber, Tomato and Corn salad, and we had grilled corn with burgers for dinner, but that left me with five ears of corn to use up before it got old and weird.  I had never actually had corn chowder before, but I like clam chowder, and it's essentially the same swapping clams for corn, so I figured I'd give it a try.  Plus, it seemed like a good vehicle to douse with hot sauce, parsley, and mop up with big hunks of bread.  I read over a few recipes to get some ideas, but this is one of those cases in which you can customize based on how much of each ingredient you have. Corn Chowder 3-5 ears fresh corn, kernels cut off (A good way to remove the kernels without spraying them all over your kitchen is to h...

I love salads.  Everything from greens dressed with just olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice, to giant piles of everything in the fridge.  That being said, we all burn out on greens occasionally, so here are a few ideas for lettuce-free salads.  One great thing about these salads, you can make them in advance without worrying about everything getting wilted and sad. Cucumber, Corn and Tomato Salad The title pretty much sums it up. Cucumber, chopped Tomato, chopped Corn, raw, shucked off the cob Avocado (add this at the last minute to prevent browning) Fresh basil or parsley, or both, chopped Olive oil Red wine vinegar This was great as-is, but I also served the leftovers over a bed of lettuce (I know, I promised no lettuce), and added chickpeas to make it a little heartier. Roasted Sweet Potato and Beet Salad Also, self-explanatory. Sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes Beets, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes Onion, roughly chopped Olive oil Balsamic ...

Hello wonderful readers!  We had a fantastic time in Alaska last week, and if I ever finish sorting and editing the 200+ photos I took, I will share a little recap with you.  When we arrived home at noon on Saturday after traveling since 7AM Alaska time on Friday, I can assure you that I had no energy to cook or shop for food.  So, when I woke up inexplicably bright and early on Sunday, I hustled over to the market to restock our kitchen before the weekend masses descended on the store.  Aside from a few setbacks (forgetting my shopping list and a crazy delay at the deli), I escaped with food for a few days, and a great meal planned for dinner last night. As you know, we love cooking on the grill.  Charcoal grilling can be a lengthy process, so we reserve it for weekend evenings when we don't have anything else going on.  Lounging around on the porch waiting for the coals to heat often results in us eating dinner on the late side, but it's always worth th...

We've been having unseasonably warm temperatures in New England the past few days.  It feels more like July than May, but I will take it.  In honor of the unofficial start to summer, we ate dinner from the grill on our porch last night.  Aside from the fact that our neighbors have inexplicably acquired a bug zapper ( Who knew you could still buy those?  Also, who still thinks they work? ), it was a wonderful evening. Our dinner was grilled salmon, grilled corn and wild rice pilaf.  Simple, but fresh and delicious. Grilled Salmon After extensive research by our grill master, we opted to go with the aluminum foil approach for the salmon.  We don't have a grilling basket yet, and it looked like it is possible to put fish straight on the grill if it's well oiled, but there is a risk it will break into pieces and your nice dinner will end up in the coals. We used a very simple technique.  Spray a piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray.  Arran...