Having My Way With A Dozen Ears of Corn

Isn't that a beautiful sight?  One of the most exciting days of summer for me, is the day the sweet corn is ready.  I pester a local farmer with phone calls inquiring, "is it ready?", until I'm sure he's had quite enough and is more than relieved to answer in the affirmative.  Our attempts to grow our own corn have been frustrating.  A few years ago, we had rows of beautiful green corn that was almost ready to harvest.  Imagine our surprise when one morning we went out to find every stalk flattened to the ground.  I just know there were some very full raccoons watching and mocking us from the woods as they had been partying in our corn while we slept.  Maybe they were of the nicer persuasion and were actually thanking us for the feast - but either way, we ended up with no corn. Because of that experience, I've been relying on others to help me satisfy my corn desire.

And here's what I did with the first, delectable ears I could get my hands on.  I should warn you ahead of time, I was in a spicy, mexican food, kind of mood.

Black Bean Burgers with Corn on the Cob

There's nothing better than an ear of sweet corn picked fresh from the field that morning. On day one we had black bean burgers and sweet corn on the cob.   Simple and delicious, it really doesn't get any better than this.  But I was determined to give it my best shot.  I boiled extra ears for the next few dishes.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

Tex Mex flavors abound in this salad with beans, corn, red peppers, red onions, jalapenos and cilantro. I used this recipe and it was awesome.  The lime juice made it taste extra fresh.

Cheesy Corn Omelet

This omelet was over the top delicious.  I've never considered putting corn in my omelet, but keeping with the southwestern theme, I made this one with red pepper, corn, green onions, black beans and pepper jack cheese.  With a little of this salsa on the side, it had my taste buds screaming!  This might be a little intense for your breakfast, but I thought it was perfect.  Actually it would also  make a wonderful dinner on a night when you're scrambling around at 5:00 trying to figure out what on earth to make.

Spicy Corn Chowder

Yes, we do eat soup in the summer.  I've made some tasty gazpacho that was served cold, but with this fresh corn, I really wanted some corn chowder.  I used this recipe from Fine Cooking magazine and it was truly fine. The spice came from the addition of chipotle chili powder, which by the way is very spicy so be careful with it.  Although this soup was tasty, it was a pain in the "you know what" to make.  Frozen corn would have been a million times easier, but then it would have just been plain old corn chowder and I probably wouldn't have been tempted to make it.  My family raved about how good it was and I said, "I'm glad you like it.  Enjoy it to it's fullest, 'cause I doubt you'll be having it again!"

Now that was fun.  Four good meals from a dozen ears of corn.  Oh, how I do love summer food!!!