Quinoa, Sweet Corn, Lime & Jalapeño Salad

The best most people can hope for is to co-exist peacefully with their mother-in-law. But I actively love mine. I sometimes joke that I married my husband for his mother and although it's not actually true, she definitely sweetened the deal.

She's one of those rare individuals who manage to be genuinely happy, loving, giving and fun while remaining down-to-earth and approachable. She's also been head over heels in love with our son since he came into the world a little over three years ago. She watches him for us often and invites us over for dinner all the time, too. My only complaint is that I can sometimes feel a bit lame in comparison  with her. But that is a problem I am HAPPY to live with.

She recently turned 60 and her best friend threw her a truly gorgeous party to celebrate. When I arrived I was practically speechless over how beautiful everything looked -- I was half expecting someone to get married... See what I mean? (Many thanks to Dion for the beautiful photo!)

Photo by Dion Ogust, copyright 2012. http://www.dionphoto.com/

It was a beautiful night with a huge yellow moon, a lot of crickets doing their thang, great live music by a few friends, and, perhaps most importantly, really good food. Grilled ribs, chicken and corn on the cob with a bunch of homemade sides including chopped summer salad and my current favorite, green bean and potato salad with lemon dill aioli made for some yummy eating. This quinoa salad rounded out the selection of sides (all chosen so that people who are gluten and dairy-free could partake.)

It was new to me and I really enjoyed the mix of southwestern flavors - corn, lime, jalapenos, sage and cilantro.

You've got lots of sweetness between the corn and the red onion.

A little bit of heat from the jalapeños and lots of fresh, bright flavor from the cilantro and the sage.

The sophisticated sourness of the fresh lime juice tempers the sweetness of the corn and sauteed onions.

And quinoa's mild nuttiness provides a nice base for all these flavors to show off.

A perfect late summer (how on earth did it get to be LATE summer already?!) salad flecked with green herbs and studded with yellow kernels of corn and soft, sweet pieces of purple onion.

Feel free to fool around with the proportions - you can use more or less jalapeño, corn, cilantro, etc., it's all flexible based on your preferences.

-- print recipe --
Quinoa, Sweet Corn, Lime & Jalapeño Salad
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups of quinoa
* 2 1/2 cups of water
* 3-4 ears of corn shucked and cut off the cob
* 1 large red onions, chopped
* 1/2-1 jalapeño, seeds and inner membranes removed, finely chopped (don't touch your eyes for hours!)
* 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
* 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
* 1/4 cup coarsely chopped oregano or sage
* Olive oil
* Lots of sea salt
* Lots of freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Cook the quinoa: bring a medium-large pot of water to a boil; while it's heating up, rinse the quinoa in several changes of water and drain thoroughly. Once the water reaches a boil, add the quinoa, stir, and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes on low heat or until you see the little curly white tail of the quinoa grains emerge. Turn off the heat, stir in a few tablespoons of olive oil and set it aside.

2. Heat some olive oil in a wide frying pan. Add the onion and sauté it over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, then add the corn and saute for another 3-5 minutes until the corn is just tender. Season it all with sea salt and let it cool.

3. Combine the quinoa, onions and corn, chopped jalapeño, lime juice, 3-4 Tbsps olive oil and toss it all with roughly several teaspoons of salt (adjust as needed) then add the fresh herbs and mix to make sure everything is distributed evenly. Serve warm or cold.

You might also like:

• Cumin-Scented Quinoa With Grated Beets Topped With Quick Curried Chickpeas
• Southwestern Quinoa Salad With Black Beans, Corn & Peppers
• Summer Pasta With Bacon, Corn, Tomatoes, Arugula & Basil
• Lemon-Scented Quinoa With Tahini and Chickpeas

Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Tomatoes Twelve Ways

Late blight be damned! There are still plenty of delicious, über flavorful, sun-ripened local tomatoes to be had. So let's have 'em while we can.

Here are twelve delicious ways to use the season's tomatoes - some of which you can can or freeze to last the whole year and some you should scarf down just after making. I've also included a few bonus recipes that include tomatoes but don't necessarily feature them as the main show at the end of the post.

1. Tomato Tart Two Ways
Inspired by a recipe in one of the Canal House Cooking books, these impressively fancy-looking tarts are made very simple by the use of frozen puff pastry (though feel free to make your own pastry, by all means!) Sweet ripe tomatoes, good cheese, caramelized onions and herbs make these tarts a decadent treat.

2. Tomato Jam
You might not think of tomatoes and jam in the same breath but you really should... Sweet, spicy (think ginger, cloves, chili flakes and more) and simply amazing when combined with goat cheese and any kind of bread product. Hands down the best jam I've ever made.

3. Grilled Tomato and Eggplant Stacks with Basil and Feta Cheese
These leaning Tower of Pisa-esque delights are an easy way to make the most of summer's bounty. Grilled eggplant and tomato slices are drizzled with olive oil, layered with sliced basil and feta (or goat) cheese, seasoned with salt and pepper and stacked for layers of melting-gooey-sweet-savory-herby yumminess.

4. Tomato Corn Pie with Butter-Brushed Biscuit Topping
Like everything Deb at Smitten Kitchen makes, this pie is heart-stoppingly (and probably artery-cloggingly) delicious. Biscuit topping, sweet corn, tomatoes and cheddar cheese make for serious summer comfort food.

5. Provençal Vegetable Tian
Baking concentrates the flavors and natural sweetness of layered, very thin slices of tomato, potato, eggplant,summer squash, and leeks. White wine, thyme and garlic add the delicious taste of the south of France.

6. Roasted Eggplant & Tomato Gratin
This is basically a healthier, lighter and actually tastier take on eggplant parm that comes from Martha Rose Shulman's Recipes for Health series in the NYTimes. Packed with flavors, very hearty and satisfying.

7. Slow, Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

I have not stopped making these since I learned about them from Marisa at Food In Jars. Ripe tomatoes (you can use any size or type) combined with a few minutes of prep time and roughly 8-10 hours of slow cooking in a low heat oven yield the most divine concentrated dried tomatoes you'll ever eat. Add some herbs, balsamic vinegar and/or garlic for an even more ecstatic eating experience. You can eat them right away (great on bread, in salads, as a basis for sauce and more), pack a jar for the fridge or freeze them in bags or jars to enjoy all year-long.

8. Simple Pasta Sauce with Garlic & Herbs

Nothing captures the flavors of summer like homemade pasta sauce. You can eat this simple sauce right away or can or freeze some for the colder months ahead. You'll thank yourself during the dark days of winter when you're able to grab one of these magical jars of sweet summer flavors to make an easy dinner special...

9. Heirloom Tomato Sauce with Italian Sausage & Basil

A super tasty sauce filled with fresh herbs, sausage and, of course, tomatoes. Due to the inclusion of meat, eat this one right away unless you've got a pressure canner and know what you're doing (my recipe does not include canning instructions.)

10.  Chopped Salad with Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Herbs & Feta

This simple salad is so flavorful, flesh and flexible that it's become one of my favorites. Also a perfect way to make use of summer's sometimes overwhelming bounty of cukes, tomatoes and fresh herbs.

11.   Sweet Corn, Tomato & Basil Salad

My mom-in-law makes this often and I find it positively addictive! Sweet, fresh, flavorful and very very easy... (a great way to make use of leftover corn on the cob, too.)

12. Heirloom Tomato Salsa

Once you've made your own salsa, it's pretty hard to go back to store-bought. Although you can just make this as a one-time treat, I recommend making a big batch and canning some to use throughout the year -- soooooo good!

BONUS OPTIONS - tomatoes play a supporting role in the following four dishes.

Summer Pasta with Tomatoes, Sweet Corn, Basil, Bacon & Arugula - an easy summer meal packed with great flavors. And you can't really go wrong with bacon...

Chicken Milanese on a Bed of Arugula & Tomatoes - sweet tomatoes and peppery arugula provide a perfect backdrop for crunch, salty, juicy breaded chicken. Hard to beat.

Niçoise Salad - this hearty and beautiful composed salad is one of my very favorite things in the world. So many good tastes in one bowl and healthy and fresh to boot.

Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale with Cherry Tomatoes & Garlic - I am always thankful to find another good kale recipe and this is one of the simplest and tastiest I've stumbled upon. Garlic, sweet cherry tomatoes and a little bit of bullion or broth turn a big bunch of kale into a true treat.

Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Chicken Milanese On a Bed of Arugula & Tomatoes

It seems there's a fungus among us... I heard last week that the rumors of late blight in the Hudson Valley have been confirmed. Hisss!!! Boo!!!  So you may want to make this delicious meal now, since there may not be much of a future for tomatoes on the east coast this summer...

This dish is inspired by a similar one I've had at Cucina, an upscale Italian restaurant here in Woodstock (photo below from their site) that we really like. A lot of other people seem to like it, too, including the Hudson Valley glitterati - the last time we ate there we were seated next to Uma Thurman and saw Natalie Merchant walking in as we walked out. That's just how we roll in the most famous small town in America...

Anyway, back to the recipe. This simple meal is sooooo good. The chicken is crispy outside and tender inside with a nice crunchy, salty, cheesy crust that is enhanced by squeezing a little lemon juice over it. And the sweet, juicy tomatoes play nicely with the fresh, peppery bite of the arugula combined with a splash of olive oil and rich, sweet balsamic vinegar.

I have to admit that I LOVE pounding the crap out of a chicken cutlet until it's "only wafer thin." There's really no better way to get out a little aggression (the bird is already dead, after all.) So much cheaper and quicker than talk therapy...

And I love this metal meat mallet I got for the purpose. It's got one flat and one spiked side and is actually surprisingly light and easy to wield. And it removes my anxiety over using a wooden mallet to pound meat as it just seems like it has to be nearly impossible to get a wooden one truly clean. Not so with the metal kind which I wash and then put in the dishwasher just to be safe.

Although I am in no way above using prepared breadcrumbs, I was overtaken by feelings of guilt while staring at a Bread Alone baguette I'd unintentionally let go stale on the counter.

So I made a small tub of breadcrumbs by food processing the bread to fine crumbs and then adding some grated Parmesan, sea salt and black pepper to make the breading mixture.

The process of breading and frying the chicken always takes a little more time and effort than I'd like (mainly to clean it up) but, on the whole, this is a fairly easy meal to assemble. The chicken pieces are quite thin (especially if you've got any anger or frustration you need to work out) so they cook quickly.

I made the salad with some arugula I picked out of our little container garden - I love being able to pick it while it's still young and tender and has not yet turned bitter or tough.

And topped it with some of our first fresh tomatoes. Then drizzled some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a tiny bit of salt over it all. Delicious!

-- print recipe --

Chicken Milanese On a Bed of Arugula & Tomatoes

Serves 4

Ingredients

* 4 boneless, skinless, organic chicken cutlets

* 1 1/2 -2 cups breadcrumbs (panko is a good choice for a crispy crust)

* 2-3 Tbsps grated Parmesan cheese

* 2 large eggs, beaten in a shallow bowl

* 1 cup of flour

* Sea salt

* Freshly ground black pepper

* 2 large or 3-4 medium-sized ripe tomatoes, chopped

* 1 bunch of arugula, washed, dried and with the ends of the stems removed

* 4 lemon slices

* 1/3 cup olive oil plus a little more for the salad

* Balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Put one or two of the chicken cutlets in a plastic bag (you can also use wax paper or plastic wrap but a bag will work just as well and is less wasteful), lay them on a cutting board and pound them with a mallet or rolling pin until they are nice and flat and thin (you're shooting for a thickness of roughly 1/2 inch.) Repeat with the others and set them aside.

2. Prepare your breading station: combine the flour, salt and pepper on a plate or a rimmed baking dish, put the beaten eggs in a shallow bowl next to the flour, combine the breadcrumbs, grated parmesan and a little more salt in a third rimmed dish next to the eggs. The order should be flour, eggs, breadcrumbs.

3. Working one at a time, dredge the flattened chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, making sure you coat them well, then dip them in the egg (again, cover the whole piece) but try to let the excess egg drip off back into the bowl, and then roll them in the breadcrumbs making sure you cover all the surfaces (you can pick some up and sprinkle it on the cutlet if this is challenging.) Set each piece aside as you finish then go wash your hands.

4. Heat 1/3 cup of olive oil in a wide shallow frying pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Fry the chicken pieces until golden brown - about 3-5 minutes on each side then remove them from the pan and drain on a paper bag (or a plate).

5. Divide the arugula between four plates and top with the chopped tomatoes. Drizzle the greens and tomatoes with a little olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a little sea salt and black pepper then top each one with a piece of chicken. Serve with a wedge of lemon on the side.

You might also like:

• Chicken Salad With Fresh Herbs
• Grilled Pork Chops With Balsamic Glazed Peaches
• Spiced Lamb Kabobs With Tomato Jam

Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.