Coucous Cakes with Salsa

As I believe I've mentioned that I made a New Year's resolution to myself to make at least one new recipe every week. This usually means that on Sunday, when I'm making up my weekly menu (yes, I actually do that), I end up flipping through one of my cookbooks for something that I haven't made before and that sounds intriguing. So recently, I was flipping through Better Homes and Garden 365 Vegetarian Meals and came across this recipe. I thought it sounded interesting, and worth a try. I ended up being happy with how it came out. I wasn't expecting couscous to go well with a Mexican-flavored salsa, but it did! This is a nice, light meal and great for summer. It has a couple components to it, so bear with me.


Recipe
Makes 4 servings
1/2 cup whole wheat couscous
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teapsoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk or sour fat-free milk*
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 recipe Black Bean Salsa
Nonstick cooking spray


*To make 3/4 cup sour fat-free milk, place 2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Add enough fat-free milk to make 3/4 cup total liquid; stir. Let stand for 5 minutes before using.


1. In a medium bowl combine uncooked couscous, whole wheat flour, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl beat egg with a fork. Stir in buttermilk and oil. Stir buttermilk mixture into couscous mixture. Let stand for 20 minutes (batter will thicken as it stands).


2. Meanwhile, prepare Black Bean Salsa; set aside. Preheat oven to 200 degree F.


Black Bean Salsa: In a medium bowl stir together 3/4 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed; half of a 15-ounce can black beans (3/4 cup), rinsed and drained; 3/4 cup salsa; 1/2 cup chopped, peeled jicama; 1 tablespoon snipped fresh cilantro; 1 tablespoon lime juice; and 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.


3. Lightly coat an unheated griddle or large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Preheat over medium heat. For each cake, spoon 2 slightly rounded tablespoons of the couscous batter onto the hot griddle or into the skillet; quickly spread to 3 1/2-inch cakes. Cook about 4 minutes or until brown, turning once halfway through cooking or when bottoms are lightly brown and edges are slightly dry. Remove bean cakes from griddle or skillet. Keep warm in oven while cooking remaining cakes.


4. To serve, top couscous cakes with Black Bean Salsa.

mexican pizza.

So let me say first that I absolutely love Mexican food. Aside from the taste itself, Mexican food reminds me of college. At least every other Friday, my best friends and I would go to the Mexican restaurant in our college town, order margaritas and food and stay there for hours. It was heaven. Mexican food will always remind me of those times. And also, honestly, I just love the way it tastes. So I came across this recipe for Mexican pizza on A Couple Cooks and I knew I had to try it.


the recipe
Makes 2 10-inch pizzas
2 crusts pizza dough
1 can no-fat refried black beans (makes enough for around 4 pizzas)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 small red onion
1 tomato
1 jalapeno pepper
2 handfuls fresh cilantro
2 handfuls frozen corn
Mexican cheese blend
Kosher salt


1. Place pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 F.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the refried black beans with a bit of water to thin the consistency so that it is easily spreadable. Mix with 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon paprika, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne.
3. Seed and dice the tomato. Finely chop the red onion. Chop the cilantro. Seed and dice the jalapeno.
4. When the toppings and oven are ready, shape the dough into a 10-inch round. Place the dough on a floured pizza peel or pull the pizza stone out of the oven and carefully place the dough on it.
5. Quickly assemble the pizza. Spread the bean mixture in a thin layer over the dough, sprinkle on as much cheese as you like, and add the red onion, tomato, jalapeno, corn, and cilantro. Sprinkle with kosher salt. If desired, brush a little olive oil on the crust to help it brown.
6. Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes.


substitutions
I had a couple for this one. Instead of pizza dough, I used pita bread. It works perfectly for a single sized pizza. I didn't have refried black beans so I just pureed whole black beans in a food processor. Worked fine. I did not use the jalapeno but I added green onions because I wanted to use them up. Instead of an actual Mexican cheese blend, I just mixed some cheddar and mozzarella together.


great with
This is a filling pizza, I think, so it stands well on its own.


the review
This is so yum. Seriously, I can't wait to make this again. It's easy to make and the combination of flavors was awesome. I love how this uses black beans as the "sauce" and I think the inclusion of the red onions gave it the perfect little kick without being overwhelming. Make this pizza, especially if you have a weird nostalgia thing with Mexican food, like I do. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

summer corn chowder.

Have you ever had the summer corn chowder at Panera? It's really good. I haven't had it in like, a year, but I was sitting around, thinking about what to make for dinner one day and instantly I decided I wanted summer corn chowder. I figured I'd go to Panera, but then I though, screw that, I'll just find out how to make it.


I went to Google and searched "summer corn chowder recipe" and after reading some reviews, decided to make the first recipe that came up, which is from epicurious.com and can be found by clicking here.


the recipe
Makes 4 to 5 servings
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, cut in 1/4-inch dice
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups fresh vegetable broth
2 russet potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch dice
4 cups fresh corn kernels
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup half-and-half
2 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice, for garnish
1/2 cup thinly slivered fresh basil leaves, for garnish


1. Place the oil and butter in a pot over low heat. Add the diced onion and wilt for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the onion; cook, stirring, for an additional 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Add the broth and potatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, partially covered, for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the corn, red and green bell peppers, salt, pepper and half-and-half; cook over low heat for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Ladle 2 cups of soup into each bowl. Before serving, place 1 tablespoon of diced tomatoes in the center of each and top generously with slivered basil. Serve immediately.


substitutions
I didn't have a green bell pepper, so I just used a red one for both amounts. I also didn't feel like messing around with garnish, so I skipped the tomatoes and basil. Also, after reading the reviews on epicurious.com, I noticed that some of them said this recipe was a little bland for them. I added some red cayenne pepper and thyme for flavor.


great with
Soup is pretty stand-alone, to me anyways. I like bread for dipping though, so I usually toast a piece of whole grain bread and then put a little bit of butter and garlic powder on it.


the review
Well...I was craving Panera's summer corn chowder and I basically got Panera's summer corn chowder. This is one of my new favorite recipes. This was really easy to make and it's so, so good. I know you might be thinking, it's summer, why in the world would I want soup? But seriously, that has a perfect taste for summer. This was hearty and filling (and not bland at all--no clue what those reviews were talking about) and my goodness, even though I made a half recipe, the amount of soup I got out of it was huge. Make this. You will not regret it.

sweetcorn cakes.

This is another fine recipe from The Best-Ever Vegetarian Cookbook. I was excited to try this one because of the simple but flavorful ingredients that I saw listed in the recipe.

the recipe

serves 4

1 large cob sweetcorn

3/4 cup plain flour

1 egg

a little milk

salt and freshly ground black pepper

shredded fresh basil leaves, to garnish

1. Pull the husks and silk away from the corn, then hold the cob upright on a board and cut downwards with a heavy knife to strip off the kernels. Put the kernels in a pan of boiling water and cook for 3 minutes after the water has returned to the boil, then drain and rinse under the cold tap to cool quickly.

2. Put the flour into a bowl and break the egg into a well in the middle. Start stirring with a fork, adding a little milk to make a soft dropping consistency. Stir in the drained corn and season with salt and pepper.

3. Heat some oil in a wide frying pan and drop a tablespoon of batter into the center. Cook, one at a time, over a low heat and turn as soon as the top is set. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm while cooking the remaining fritters. The mixture should make at least 8 sweetcorn cakes

substitutions

Half a bag of frozen corn for the cob of sweetcorn

Didn't have any fresh basil leaves

great with

I had a serving of the sweetcorn cakes with an Amy's California Veggie Burger (love those!) along with some grilled tomatoes, which were sliced and then seasoned with salt, pepper and oregano.

the review

This is similar to a corn souffle, just served in a different way. I really liked this recipe. The flavor is good, but not too overwhelming. Definitely a simple food, but really good. I can't wait to try this with an actual cob of sweetcorn instead of just half a bag of sub-par frozen corn. I will definitely be trying this recipe again once the weather gets warmer, once corn is in season.