Disappearing Southwestern Salsa

     It was July 4 and we were headed to a cookout. I've been dying to try a sweet corn salsa with Husk, and just needed the opportunity. After looking through numerous recipes, I combined what I liked and came up with this. Really not trying to brag, but it was beyond delicious. I got "yelled" at for not bringing enough, even though I had doubled the recipe. The salsa had disappeared before the burgers were even cooked.  I was informed by several friends that this is now my new go-to recipe (even better than my hummus!) and I'm to bring to all get-togethers. :)

     There are onions and jalapeños in the recipe, but there are just enough to provide a good depth and some mild heat to the salsa. It won't burn your mouth. Promise. Black beans and avocado help smooth out the flavors too. The kids, even the ones who normally won't touch anything hot loved it. The adults who normally say "the hotter the better" devoured it too. Truly is a crowd pleaser. If you want it hotter, of course add more jalapeños. But I think the balance is just right.

Here's the recipe. Not kidding though, you need to at least double it!

The fresh ingredients

Disappearing Southwestern Salsa

1 bag Husk sweet corn (drained)

15 ozs black beans (rinsed and drained)

1 pint cherry tomatoes (halved)

2 avocado (chopped)

1 lime ~2 TB (juiced)

½  medium purple onion (diced)

2 jalapeno chilies (seeded and minced)

2 clove garlic (minced)

1/3 cup fresh cilantro chopped or torn (or a good 2 TB of dried cilantro if fresh unavailable)

¼  tsp freshly ground pepper

½ TB Kosher salt

½ TB Tony Chachere's Lite Creole Seasoning (lite because it's low-sodium. Calories are negligible. Zataran's would also be acceptable.)

Both groceries in my town were out of cilantro so I had to use dried.

You can mix ingredients earlier in the day and even the day before to let tastes meld. Add avocado shortly before serving as it tends to brown. The key to the wonderful combination of sweet, savory, bitter, and salty flavors is finely mincing garlic, jalapeno, and red onion as well as using Husk corn. Husk is sweeter than any other frozen or canned corn on the market.

Mincing hotter ingredients is key

There you have it! A delicious, healthy party food. I would love to hear your comments! Simple to leave below.

. You can also top grilled chicken with it, or put it on a salad and skip the dressing. Enjoy!

Colorful and addictive

Midwestern Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie with Husk vegetables. An easy, hearty winter meal for the family.

I LOVE my Husk sweet corn. Really love it. Not exaggerating.  I keep looking for more recipes that include corn just so I can use more of it. This time it was the middle of winter and I was a little tired of soup but I still wanted to eat a comfort food. Healthier comfort food, that is. This is another great recipe made from what I had on hand. I ended up doubling the recipe and intended to freeze the rest. It never quite made it to the freezer as everybody ate it for lunch and supper for a couple of days without complaint. It was that good. This recipes is adapted from Gordon Ramsey's. See him cook it on this youtube video. It took maybe 25 mites prep time, which wasn't horrible. It's always hard for me to get an accurate count because the kids are running in and out, somebody has a homework question, the phone rings... You all know the drill. The most time-consuming part of the recipe is cooking the meat and making the mashed potatoes. The recipe as directed serves 6.

Ready to use. I forgot to thaw ahead of time. Just took a little while longer.

Ingredients:

Nonstick spray

2 lbs lean ground beef (I used ground deer meat)

fresh ground black pepper to taste

2 cups onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped

1 small sprig fresh rosemary (a little goes a long way)

1 bag Husk sweet corn, thawed

1 bag Husk peas, thawed

1 bag Husk green beans, thawed

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons tomato puree

2 tablespoons flour

7 ounces red wine

2 1/2 ounces Worcestershire sauce

1 liter chicken stock

2 lbs boiled potatoes

4 tablespoons butter

5 ounces milk

2 egg yolks

salt to taste

Parmesan cheese

1. In large skillet, brown the meat with the salt and pepper. Drain any fat that has cooked out. With the deer meat it is so lean that I never have this problem. Meanwhile add the potatoes to a large stockpot and begin to boil.
2. Next saute the onion and garlic with the thyme until the onion is translucent. Then add the meat, tomato puree, and sprinkle in the flour. Cook 2-3 minutes to cook the flour.
3. Add both red wine and worcestershire sauce and cook until half of the liquid has been reduced. Then add the chicken stock. Bring back to a boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the mixture is thick. Keep on low and add in Husk vegetables. They are already blanched so just need to be warmed, not cooked.
4. Mash the potatoes and add in butter, milk, and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Spray non-stick spray in pan if you have a tendency to get things stuck like I do. Layer meat in first, then cover with potatoes. The recipe calls for Parmesan, but I forgot to pick it up at the store so I used some shredded cheddar in the fridge that needed to be finished off. I think the Parmesan would've been better, but you still can't go wrong with sharp cheddar!
6. Cook for 18-20 minutes to brown the potatoes.
7. Serve. Watch your normally picky eaters ask for seconds. Smile. Make a mental note to make more the next time so you'll have enough leftovers for another meal.
   

   

   Yum! Get a load of that delicious corn, peas, and green beans!

   
   

Chicken Corn Chowder

So I've had corn on the brain since my husband started working for Husk last year. They're a brand new company with an innovative idea: "Husk is a local food system in Indiana-farms, processing, distribution, and retail grocery- which provides year-round access to local Indiana foods." You can visit their website here to learn more. The first bags of corn he brought home last summer we simply cooked and devoured straight out of the pan. But I also love cooking with corn and have been itching to try some new things. When he brought home several bags of Husk corn and green beans the other day and I couldn't wait to begin experimenting with recipes. A healthier chicken corn chowder was top of the menu.

A note before we get to the recipe. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a c'est la vie personality. Finite details are for when I'm editing photos, or preparing a piano piece for public performance. Other than that, I usually prefer to go with the flow. And... I need to go on before I break into a chorus of Que Sera, Sera... So recipes are usually more like suggestions anyway as far as quantities, especially spices and herbs. Which means that this recipe doesn't have quantities for the herbs, just suggestions. We started with teaspoons of almost everything, then added a pinch more, then another pinch, as tasting determined. Word to the wise, though, let rosemary settle a bit before adding more. I tend to be not as fond of it as other people are and a little goes a long way.

Chicken Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

2 chicken breast, cubed

2 bags Husk corn

1 bag Husk green beans, cut

1 yellow onion

2 cups baby carrots, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

5 potatoes, cubed

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 cups chicken brother OR 8 cups water with 8 chicken bouillon cubes

1 can cream of chicken soup

Herbs to taste:

1 tsp Rosemary

1 tsp Thyme

1+ tsp Basil

Kosher salt (add only if you used chicken broth. Bouillon is salty enough that you don't need any more)

Dash crushed red pepper flakes

Dash cayenne pepper

1+ tsp Black pepper

Serves: 15 or so. (Makes great leftovers and work lunches!)

Nutrition info from myfitnesspal.com. It's not perfect, but it's close. Also, the sodium is high, but that's from using bouillon cubes instead of chicken broth. 

Calories: 108 carbs: 16 fat: 1 protein: 5 sodium:  469 sugar: 3

Directions:

In large stock pot add cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, herbs, and carrots (they take the longest to cook). Cover and cook on medium. Once carrots are roughly halfway cooked, add potatoes and celery.

Meanwhile, cook chicken in a skillet. You could add it to the soup pot to cook that way if you're in a hurry, but the chicken stays more tender when it is cooked separately in the skillet. When the chicken is cooked through remove and put in a covered dish. If you time with the cooking of the soup you can then place directly into soup. Since this whole dish was an experiment anyway, we didn't quite get the timing right and had to set the chicken aside. Not the end of the world but it ended up cooling.

Add the corn and green beans. If still frozen it will merely lengthen the cooking time as it will cool the soup. Saute the onions and garlic in the skillet then add to soup.

Just prior to serving, add the chicken to warm. It will still be nice and tender.

*Note: Because we added all the veggies frozen, which added water, and we used water rather than chicken brother, the chowder was a bit watery. We solved this by combining a cup or two of broth and adding with a few tablespoons of flour to make a thickener.

You could serve with crackers, but we all loved it just fine by itself. It was nearly a full meal in itself.

Total time ended up being around 45 minutes of prep/cook time. I can't be sure because I was busy enjoying time with mom, who was visiting from out of state. Between that and the rest of a noisy household, time just kind of flew by... :) You could shorten the time by throwing it all in a crock pot and leaving it on low while you're at work, or throw it all in a large stock pot, forget about it for a while doing other chores and come back. I'm sure it would be great then too. The main reason I added things at different time was to accommodate the different cooking times of the various ingredients so that everything was cooked without being overcooked.

Now for the results. It was DELICIOUS! My husband raved about it, and he's not an over-the-top kind of person. Multiple people went back for seconds that night. My kids liked it top, and they're in that anything-new-is-suspicious stage. This is definitely going on my list of things to make again. Probably throw it in the crock pot next time and have deliciousness waiting when I get home from work!