Summer = Corn on the Cob

Growing up in the Midwest, I was surrounded by fields of corn.  There was nothing better than having Farmer John stroll out into the field and stuff his overall pockets with sweet, fresh corn for us.  We would soak it overnight in salty brine, in the husk, and then throw it on the grill the next day.  When the shucks were burnt, we pulled it back to reveal the best sweet corn-on-the-cob ever, and then dipped it in melted butter and covered it with salt.  It still makes my mouth water.  I once ate 13 cobs in one afternoon!

This is NOT heart healthy!  No question. I'm not saying I wouldn't still love it, but we needed a better alternative.

We still put the unshucked corn on the grill. In winter, we microwave it in the shuck, 4 minutes per ear.

But we have discovered that mixing 1 tablespoon of low fat margarine, 1 tablespoon plain yogurt and 1/4 teas. chili powder yields a wonderful tasty spread for two ears of corn.  Don't even miss the salt.
This is a summer treat we can still enjoy.

A Busy Week Cooking

As promised, we spent a busy week trying out new recipes. The first was Black Bean & Goat Cheese Quesadillas with Guacamole.  Again, this meal started with an intriguing recipe emailed to me from Fine Cooking magazine. They also provided a recipe for homemade tortillas, so I tried that too. 

The tortillas were more trouble than I expected and left the kitchen covered with flour - probably the fault of the cook not the recipe.  The instructions said, "It should be more or less circular, though an amoeba shape is fine too."  We had the amoeba shaped variety, though a few got closer to round as I practiced with the rolling pin.   Jose, our HVAC tech, says corn meal tortillas are better and not as messy.  I'll try them next.  (Jose only works on the system when peppers are being harvested from our garden!)

The tortilla recipe will be posted at http://www.frogsncats.com/, but with a few modifications.  Next time I would use a teflon coated skillet and very little olive oil, and as previously suggested, I would try cornmeal.

The Quesadillas themselves were very dry, but the leftovers were improved greatly by reheating so making them ahead of time may be the key.  I have had better Guacamole.  This recipe was nothing but the avocados and fresh lime juice.  It definitely needed more.

The hit of the week was last night's Portabella Mushrooms with Garlicky Swiss Chard.  That is definitely a keeper!   Fine Cooking had suggested Sirloin Steak with Chard, but I wanted to improve the heart healthy aspects of the recipe, so we substituted large portabellas.  I took a hint from our old favorite broiled mushroom recipe and brushed the mushroom caps with an olive oil and lemon mixture, adding some fresh chopped rosemary.  The Swiss Chard in the garden had just gotten big enough to yield some leaves so the timing for this was great.  Larry couldn't get over how good it was.  The little bit of olive oil and a sprinkling of cheese contributed the only fat in the meal.

Garlic is a wonderful addition to so many of these meals.  The next adventure will be planting our own.  We have done it before with good success.  You plant on the shortest day and harvest on the longest day according to Georgia gardening lore, so now is the time to order. The catalog recommends planting between October and January.

Relearning how to eat

My husband was surprised with bypass surgery 2-1/2 weeks ago and since then we have been learning how to eat! Reading labels is a startling experience with many of our regular favorites now on the don't buy- don't eat list. But it has also opened us up to experimenting with food that actually IS good for us and making it enjoyable.

Not every meal has been a big success. The chick pea, no-fry falafel patties may have been better if we had had an onion in the house. Since we didn't, I substituted yellow bush beans (which we have a mountain of from the garden)to replace the moisture. I used lots of gourmet ground pepper instead of salt. The year-old frozen oat bran pitas had not improved with age. So overall, though nourishing, it was NOT an acceptable dinner.

Tonight we had our first actual meat meal. Well-trimmed boneless pork ribs with corn-on-the-cob and butternut squash. Who knew that you could enjoy corn without butter and salt? I found a recipe on
Eating Well.com for Mexican Grilled Corn.

2 tablespoons low fat mayo
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Squeeze some fresh lime on the cob and then spread with the sauce. Sprinkle finely shredded cheese on the corn. We used Asiago while the recipe recommended an aged Mexican cheese called Cotija or Parmesan. Never missed the salt and butter. It was delicious. So much so that we are going to run out and buy more corn tomorrow. For two ears of corn, half the sauce recipe would suffice.

The butternut squash has been decorating the kitchen counter since last fall. Now that new ones are growing in the garden, we need to finish eating last year's crop. Our norm would be to cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and add butter, chopped pecans and brown sugar. (yeah, no wonder he had high cholesterol.)Tonight we sprinkled Splenda on the squash and that was pretty acceptable. Since the garden is already producing more Butternut and Acorn squash, it will require some research to dress them up.

Another interesting and satisfactory dinner. Tomorrow the plan is to make our own salt-free pizza sauce, from last year's frozen tomatoes, and see what we can use to top a whole wheat Bobolo pizza crust! Maybe bush beans?