Corn and hominy salad

Fresh corn and hominy topped with salty cheese and a zingy cilantro dressing make a hearty and filling salad. #meandthemoose #cornrecipes #elotes #corn #salad #summerproduce #vegetarianrecipes

Take advantage of corn season with this raw, refreshing, and super flavorful corn and hominy salad.

Take me to the recipe!

Fresh corn and hominy topped with salty cheese and a zingy cilantro dressing make a hearty and filling salad. #meandthemoose #cornrecipes #elotes #corn #salad #summerproduce #vegetarianrecipes

This salad was inspired by elote or Mexican street corn. When we lived in NYC, my favorite thing to get at the street fairs that popped up on summer weekends (we called them “socks and sausages”) was the grilled corn with mayo, chili powder, cilantro, and cotija cheese. Spray a little lime over those babies and they were the perfect mix of smoky, salty, creamy, and acidic.

I started developing this recipe last summer and never got around to posting it before corn season was over. This salad uses raw corn, so you really want to get the freshest veg at the peak of its season. You can use frozen or otherwise not-peak corn and give it a quick saute before making the salad, but the fresh, raw stuff is truly the best.

Fresh corn and hominy topped with salty cheese and a zingy cilantro dressing make a hearty and filling salad. #meandthemoose #cornrecipes #elotes #corn #salad #summerproduce #vegetarianrecipes
Fresh corn and hominy topped with salty cheese and a zingy cilantro dressing make a hearty and filling salad. #meandthemoose #cornrecipes #elotes #corn #salad #summerproduce #vegetarianrecipes
Fresh corn and hominy topped with salty cheese and a zingy cilantro dressing make a hearty and filling salad. #meandthemoose #cornrecipes #elotes #corn #salad #summerproduce #vegetarianrecipes

So, there are about 12 million elote salad recipes on the interwebs, so what makes this one different, you ask? Hominy!

Hominy is dried corn kernels that have been soaked in an alkaline solution. Hominy is actually used to make masa, which is the key ingredient in corn tortillas, tamales, and other staples of Mexican cuisine. It has a light corn flavor with a slightly nutty aftertaste. Actually, once you taste hominy, you know that it tastes exactly the way corn tortillas taste.

The hominy adds bulk to the salad that makes it more versatile than a side dish. I’ve added this corn concoction into other meal salads and eaten it on its own with some shredded rotisserie chicken. So, while technically a side dish, this salad can easily transform into the star of the show.

A couple of notes:

  • I only use 1/2 of a small garlic clove here because I want to be able to taste all of the ingredients here rather than just raw garlic. If you really like garlic, feel free to use more, but I REALLY REALLY like garlic and 1/2 of a small clove was more than enough for me.

  • You can find prepared hominy in cans at basically any grocery store. If you have some dried hominy that you want to rehydrate, find instructions here.

  • Cotija cheese is a dry, salty cheese that’s close to a farmer’s cheese. Kind of like if Feta and Parmesan had a baby. If you can’t find it, substitute any dry, nutty, crumbly cheese.

  • I’ve only used one Tbsp of mayo in the dressing, but if you’d like a thicker, creamier dressing, feel fee to double or triple up on the mayonnaise.

Fresh corn and hominy topped with salty cheese and a zingy cilantro dressing make a hearty and filling salad. #meandthemoose #cornrecipes #elotes #corn #salad #summerproduce #vegetarianrecipes

Corn and hominy salad

Yield: about 5 cups of salad
Time: 10 minutes

4 medium ears of corn, kernels removed (about 3½ cups)
1 15 oz can hominy (about 1½ cups)
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, tightly packed (stems and leaves are fine)
1 Tbsp mayo
1 Tbsp oil of choice (I like avocado, but if you don’t have it on hand, any is fine)
½ tsp kosher salt
Juice of 1 large lime (1 Tbsp)
½ tsp chili powder
½ small garlic clove
Water, as needed to thin out the dressing, added 1 tsp at a time
3 oz cotija cheese

Remove the corn kernels with a knife. I like to use a bundt pan to catch them as they fly around, but any old bowl will do.

Rinse the hominy and add it to the bowl of corn.

In a blender or food processor, add the cilantro, mayo, oil, salt, lime juice, chili powder, and garlic and blend until smooth, adding tiny amounts of water to thin out the sauce as necessary.

Mix the cilantro dressing into the corn and hominy.

Taste for seasoning and add more salt, chili powder or lime juice.

Top with the shredded or grated cojita.

Serve.

Rainbow Chard Galette

Rainbow Chard Galette | Me & The Moose. This galette is a super-easy show stopper for Easter and beyond! we ate it for dinner last night and the preschooler didn’t bat an eye at the heaps of greens. #meandthemoose #rainbowchard #sidedishes #vege…

This Rainbow Chard Galette is so good (I mean, there’s cheese and puff pastry, what’s not to love) and a serious show stopper for your Easter feast (or any day, really).

Take me to the recipe!

OVENS, amiright? It recently occurred to me that the real secret to successful baking is knowing your oven well. I mean, measuring and experience and bringing things to room temperature and patience are also important, but seriously, if you know that your oven runs hot or cool or that it has uneven spots, you can really up your baking game.

As you can tell, I’m still adjusting to our oven even though we’ve lived in our current house for almost two years.

Luckily, I’ve found that store-bought puff pastry is fairly forgiving. As long as your filling isn’t too wet and the oven is at least 400 degrees, you’re pretty safe.

Which makes this easy galette a reliable option for your holiday table.

Rainbow Chard Galette | Me & The Moose. This galette is a super-easy show stopper for Easter and beyond! we ate it for dinner last night and the preschooler didn’t bat an eye at the heaps of greens. #meandthemoose #rainbowchard #sidedishes #vege…
Rainbow Chard Galette | Me & The Moose. This galette is a super-easy show stopper for Easter and beyond! we ate it for dinner last night and the preschooler didn’t bat an eye at the heaps of greens. #meandthemoose #rainbowchard #sidedishes #vege…

A couple of notes:

  • I like to rip the greens off of the stems and then arrange the stems in a way that flexes my OCD muscles. HOWEVER, you can opt to chop everything together to save time and that’s perfectly acceptable.

  • Roasting garlic makes the flavor mellow and mild, which I like here because it lets the chard sing. But if you like a stronger garlic flavor, chop the cloves and saute them with the spring onions and greens instead of roasting. Or you can do half and half.

  • This galette really needs salt. I salt at the beginning and end of wilting the greens and then finish with some more salt. I like salt. If you don’t, I urge you to salt at the beginning and end of wilting (and taste test to make sure it’s not too much) and then skip the final salting rather than waiting to add salt at the end.

Rainbow Chard Galette | Me & The Moose. This galette is a super-easy show stopper for Easter and beyond! we ate it for dinner last night and the preschooler didn’t bat an eye at the heaps of greens. #meandthemoose #rainbowchard #sidedishes #vege…
Rainbow Chard Galette | Me & The Moose. This galette is a super-easy show stopper for Easter and beyond! we ate it for dinner last night and the preschooler didn’t bat an eye at the heaps of greens. #meandthemoose #rainbowchard #sidedishes #vege…
Rainbow Chard Galette | Me & The Moose. This galette is a super-easy show stopper for Easter and beyond! we ate it for dinner last night and the preschooler didn’t bat an eye at the heaps of greens. #meandthemoose #rainbowchard #sidedishes #vege…

Rainbow chard galette


Time: 50-60 minutes (about 30 minutes active time, depending on how intense you get about arranging the chard stems)
Yield: 9 medium pieces

 

4 large garlic cloves
2 Tbsp olive oil + more for roasting the garlic (about ½ cup)
2 large spring onions (white/purple and green parts), chopped (about 1 heaping cup) sub scallions if necessary
10 cups chard leaves, measured after chopping, lightly packed (about 2 medium bundles)
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp kosher salt (a few big pinches)
A few cracks of black pepper
1 cup ricotta
3/4 cup nutty cheese like gruyere or aged Gouda, shredded
1 puff pastry sheet
1 Tbsp roasted garlic oil (from earlier roasted garlic)
1 egg, whisked

Preheat oven to 425.

Smash four garlic cloves (no need to remove the skin) and place in an oven-safe ramekin. Add enough olive oil to cover the garlic. Cook in the oven for 6-8 minutes, or until you start to smell garlic and the cloves are fork tender.

Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a very large skillet. Add the spring onions and sauté until translucent and fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add the greens and a large pinch of salt. Cook until wilted, about 8-10 minutes.

Add the balsamic vinegar, another large pinch of salt, and a few cracks of fresh black pepper and stir a few times.

Once wilted, place the onions and greens into a large bowl. Add the cheeses and roasted garlic. Mix well.

On a floured surface, roll out the puff pastry dough to a thickness of 1/8th to 1/16th of an inch (about 1/3 bigger than original packaging). Move the dough to your sheet pan.

Spread the greens and cheese on the puff pastry, leaving a 1-inch frame. Fold the bare edges over onto the greens and cheese mixture.  

Arrange the chard stems in your desired pattern.

Brush the chard stems with 1 Tbsp roasted garlic oil.

Brush the lightly beaten egg over the visible parts of the pastry crust.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the bottom and the edges are golden brown.

Rainbow Chard Galette | Me & The Moose. This galette is a super-easy show stopper for Easter and beyond! we ate it for dinner last night and the preschooler didn’t bat an eye at the heaps of greens. #meandthemoose #rainbowchard #sidedishes #vege…
Rainbow Chard Galette | Me & The Moose. This galette is a super-easy show stopper for Easter and beyond! we ate it for dinner last night and the preschooler didn’t bat an eye at the heaps of greens. #meandthemoose #rainbowchard #sidedishes #vege…

Guacamole skewers

One of the most frustrating things about feeding a toddler is that one day's favorite food is the next day's reject. M used to eat guacamole by the spoonful until it was suddenly dead to him. But he still eats the components with no problem. So, I made a skewer out of it and let him pull off pieces and helped him cut them up. And he ate it.

This deconstructed guac is also a way to showcase your seasonal produce. I like hiding sub-par tomatoes and onions in my favorite green gloop, but this way, the still-warm-from-the-sun tomatoes can go right from the farmer's market to a skewer to your table. Feel free to double the sauce recipe if you want some leftovers: This bright, tangy sauce is a perfect topper for chicken, dip for veggies, or sauce for eggs.

The only (and I do mean ONLY) tricky thing about these skewers is timing the avocado right. But isn't that always the way? Too ripe, and the avocado can fall right off of the stick, but using not-ripe-enough avocados is very obvious here because there's no camouflage of mushing and lime juice.

Guacamole skewers

For the sauce
1 bunch cilantro, well-soaked
4 Tbsp avocado oil or other neutral oil
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 generous pinches of salt and more to taste
1 large clove garlic

Roughly remove the stems from the leaves of cilantro (but a few stems are fine). Blend ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or lime juice, as needed.

For the skewers
Red, orange, and yellow cherry tomatoes
1 large avocado (halved, quartered, and then chopped into fours to get 16 pieces)
2 limes (halved and quartered)
1 red onion

Yield: 16 skewers