A Corn-centric Feast!

For last night's Family Dinner, I decided on an all-corn theme! It's almost the end of fresh corn season here in Santa Cruz, and I wanted to celebrate the sweet, crunchy yumminess. I got a bajillion ears of corn, and got to work. As is usually the case, all the produce was from the farmers' market, except the tomatoes from our garden. As a year-round dedicated farmers' market shopper, these really are the good ol' days!

First up, Pan-Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad from a recent Mark Bittman article in the paper. WOW! I loved this salad so much, and it was quite easy. Instead of bacon, I made a recipe of Tempeh Bacon from "Vegan Brunch," and then used a touch of olive oil instead of bacon fat (ew!) for the rest of the recipe. I 1000% recommend this salad - a lovely combination of fresh, seasonal flavors: tomatoes, sweet corn, savory tempeh bacon, creamy avocado, and spicy peppers... mm! Lucky for me, I made a HUGE amount, and there's some waiting for me in the fridge right now.

Also, I made a huge pot of the Roasted Corn Soup from "Voluptuous Vegan." This is one of my favorite corn soup recipes ever. I love the flavors and colors, and the creaminess from the potatoes in the soup. It's got some poblano peppers in there too, for a little bit of flavor and a touch of heat.

Then, I made a big batch of "Hot Tamale Burgers," from an old recipe from Vegetarian Times (July/August 2007). I made this recipe when the magazine first came out and have never forgotten it. Here, they are ready to go on the grill...

...and all grilled up! These are SO good. Maybe my favorite homemade burger ever! They are totally non-traditional: full of corn and smoky chipotles and super tangy lime juice, but MAN! are they tasty. Check out the recipe, and let me know what you think! (Also, they are gluten free) I sprayed them with a little spritz of oil so they wouldn't stick to the grill, which seemed to help. Also, letting them rest in the fridge for a few hours really helped them firm up. The crazy-cool thing was that some corn kernels were falling off the patties to the bottom of the grill and POPPING like pop corn. It was loud and crazy!

Lastly, I got creative for dessert and made some corn sorbet with lime zest. My loving family was totally game for this crazy experiment, but let me just say that I will spare you the humiliation of having your whole family laugh at you, and NOT share my recipe. Well, actually, it wasn't a *total* disaster, and some folks managed to finish their (small) servings, but suffice it to say that nary a soul asked for seconds! Sigh! You win some and you lose some.

Next post... more delicious ways to use up late summer tomatoes!