Mexican Elote - corn + mayo + cheese = yum!

The super talented ladies of Prairie Hive have done it again! Their quarterly online magazine is always full of beautiful things from interior design to clothing to party planning tips. Each issue not only creates a world I’d like to fall in to---they show you how to do it over on their daily blog!

The recent issue had a Spanish summer vibe featuring an easy to recreate taco party with margarita mix bar. Isn't this pretty?

Picture via Prairie Hive

The issue features shrimp tacos, chicken flautas, strawberry balsamic salsa and a pineapple salsa I can’t wait to print and make myself. Check out this post on creating a margarita bar with jalapeño, watermelon and grapefruit mix ins.

Picture via Prairie Hive

Something I think would go great with this party is Mexican elote. While I’ve never had authentic elote, I’m a big fan of the American adaptations I’ve tried. The easiest, and my current favorite, comes from the On a Stick book I talked about recently.

All you need is fresh corn, some mayonnaise and parmesan cheese.

It’s great with just those three things but sprinkling on a bit of cumin, cayenne and a squeeze of lime really makes it perfection.

Instead of slathering your corn with butter this summer, give these toppings a try.

Mexican Elote

Slightly adapted from On a Stick

Ingredients
Fresh corn on the cob, shucked and cleaned – however many ears you need

Mayonnaise – 1 tablespoon per ear of corn

Parmesan cheese – 1 tablespoon per ear of corn

Chili powder – ½ tsp teaspoon per ear of corn

Cayenne pepper – ¼ tsp per ear of corn (or adjust per your preferred heat level)

Cumin – ¼  teaspoon per ear of corn

Lime wedge – 1 per ear of corn

Directions

Shuck and clean the corn. Cook in boiling water for five minutes or prepare the corn your favorite way—I know some people like grilling.

In a bowl, measure out the amount of mayonnaise you will need.

In a separate bowl measure the amount of Parmesan cheese you will need.

In a third bowl, combine the chili powder, cayenne pepper and cumin you’ll need. Keep cayenne separate if you have someone who doesn’t like heat.

Spread about one tablespoon of the mayonnaise over an ear of corn. Using your hands is easiest or you could brush it on with a pastry brush.

Sprinkle the cheese mix over the corn pressing lightly to adhere to the mayo.

Sprinkle your spice mix over the corn.

bow ties with tomatoes, feta, and balsamic dressing - your new cookout staple

I'm going to stop saying "Leah here." Cool? Because I think Shelly and I have a different enough voice that you can tell us apart. My style being way more words than is ever necessary :) If it bugs you and you need me to keep it up, lemme know. Alternatively, I have tagged each recipe with a few keywords and added my name to them. So, if you want, you can search my recipes by clicking on it in the labels / tags.

We’ve just passed Memorial Day, also known as the unofficial launch of summer. And I've come to deliver your ticket to popularity this summer. You will bring this side dish to cookouts and everyone will want the recipe. You will make this for a boy and he will propose to you...maybe all over again. Girls will have second helpings because it seems so light and low cal (it’s not) but you’ll love sharing this with your girl friends, anyway. And your kids—they’ll gobble it up. Or at least the parts they like. It’s a chunky pasta salad so anyone could pick around the ingredients they don’t like. Unless they don’t like the dressing. Or feta. In which case…..consider getting them out of your life. (I joke.) (Sort of.)

Ok, I can at least guarantee the first one. People will want this recipe. This is E Z. Is there any other kind of recipe in the summer?

This serves four large two-cup servings according to the recipe but I wanted this to be a cool side dish to accompany steak and sautéed zucchini and just for three of us so I halved the recipe making accommodations to what I had on hand.

For instance, it calls for two cups of grape tomatoes and one cup of grapes. I had this many:

Some leftover grapes from a fruit salad and eight cherry tomatoes from our patio pots. Worked fine but more of each would have been nice.

Remember the basil from this post? I sliced some up and tossed it with cooked bow tie pasta, the sliced tomatoes and grapes.

The dressing calls for white balsamic but I only had the darker on hand. The color is slightly affected from the brown tint of the vinegar but the flavor is still outstanding. Combine with minced garlic, shallots (I used the whites of about three green onions minced), some Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. I didn’t have capers called for in the original recipe. It worked fine without them but I would love to try this again with them. This recipe has you slowly adding a bit of olive oil whisking to combine. I prefer the Jamie Oliver jar jam dressing approach---being throw it all together in an empty jam jar and shake the heck out of it. If it settles or separates, shake it again.

Pour the dressing over the pasta and stir gently to combine covering all the ingredients. Add the feta cheese. Again, slightly toss.

Looks lovely. Smells divine. Tangy from the balsamic and garlic. Salty from the feta. Bursts of sweet grapes and tomatoes. Green, herby basil.

It takes longer to boil the pasta than put this pasta salad together and makes a great addition to dinner or a party. I predict you’ll find reasons to make it all summer.

Bow Ties with Tomatoes, Feta, and Balsamic Dressing
slightly adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients

• 6 ounces uncooked farfalle (bow tie) pasta, about half a package 
• 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup seedless green grapes, halved
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar (I used regular)
• 2 tablespoons chopped shallots (I used green onions)
• 2 teaspoons capers (I omitted)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 (4-ounce) package crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

2. Combine cooked pasta, tomatoes, grapes, and basil in a large bowl.

3. Combine vinegar and next 6 ingredients (through pepper) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add oil to vinegar mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. (Or mix all together in an empty jam jar and shakey shake it.)

4. Drizzle vinaigrette over pasta mixture; toss well to coat.

5. Add cheese; toss to combine.

A Side and an Appetizer

I had a very random cooking afternoon today as I perused a cookbook I stumbled upon in a moving box of mine. The sausage balls and Zucchini just looked too good to pass up. I snacked on the Zucchini (which was wonderful) while making the sausage balls, hoping I would be too full to devour them when they were finished because I have a birthday party to go tonight and need my stomach empty for the great flavors of The Cheesecake Factory. The cookbook is one my parents church put together titled, Tasteful Traditions by the Fellowship Bible Church in Tulsa. The Zucchini saute recipe comes from a lady named Brina Osborne and is absolutely delicious. Here is how to make it...

You start with 1/4 of a cup of butter and melt it in a small/medium skillet. You're going to add 1/2 of a cup of chopped onion (I also minced a clove of garlic and tossed it in with it) and let it simmer until the onions are crisp-tender in the butter.

While that's cooking you will add 3 cups of chopped Zucchini, 1/2 teaspoon of Italian Seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder. Stir this all together and let cook for 4-5 minutes.

When it's finished, I put them out on plate and sprinkled Cheddar cheese on top (which instantly melted into a gooey delicious mess)! She also added 1 cup of fresh diced tomatoes to hers but I was down to 1 tomato in the fridge and needed it later for something else so I omitted this ingredient. The taste is delicious, and it was super fast and easy to make! I love zucchini so I am very excited I decided to try this because it makes such an excellent side dish for dinners or you could make a big pan of it if you needed something quick to take to a dinner somewhere.

 Brina's Cheesy Zucchini Saute
1/2 c Chopped Onion
1/4 c Butter
3 cups Chopped Zucchini
1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 (4 ox) cup shredded cheese
1 cup Diced Fresh Tomato

Saute onion in butter until crisp-tender. Add zucchini and spices, cooking 4-5 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and tomato.

Onto the sausage balls. I will keep this short and sweet :)

You take two pounds of sausage (one pound hot and one pound regular), 3 cups of Bisquick and 24 oz. grated Cheese and mix this all together. I threw everything in at once and it took me FOREVER to get it all mixed in. So I would suggest mixing in little bits at a time. Mash, knead, jump up and down on the meat until you have everything mixed together! You will roll this mixture into 1 inch sausage balls and place on a cookie sheet. I baked mine for 8 minutes and then flipped them over (with tongs because they're going to greasy and hot) and let it cook for 6-8 minutes more. Simple, easy, and fabulous for parties or if it just sounds good. I think (via an idea from Dee Jay) we are going to throw ours in with some spaghetti and sauce and have cheesy sausage ball spaghetti for dinner. Another idea I had was to put 2 or three on top of some grits (yes I love grits of all kinds...That's why I'm from the south lol) because they taste a little like breakfast. I think that is just because it uses Bisquick and I associate that taste with breakfast. Or you could probably top of some white or brown rice with these delicious goodies and go to town! Any way you decide to make them, bake them and serve them up is up to you. This was just our idea.
~Happy Cooking~

 PRE-COOKED

 Cooked (Placed on paper towel to help soak up the grease)

Sausage Balls by Paula Kreitzer 

1 lb. Hot Sausage

1 lb. Regular Sausage

3 c. Bisquick

24 oz. Grated Cheese (I used Cheddar although next time I think I'm going to mix it up)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients. Form into 1 inch balls with a cookie scoop (or your hands). Bake on cookie sheet for 5-20 minutes. (Remember I did 8 minutes on one side and 6 on the other).

springy recipes to get you our of a dinner rut

Leah here---and I'm openly admitting that sometimes I get in a cooking rut. Some weeks I rip out a handful of recipes I find in magazines, pin dozens of tasty looking entrees on Pinterest and can't wait to plan my week. Other weeks I've got nothing. Nothing sounds good. "Can't we just eat scrambled eggs for dinner every night?" I think. A nice side of buttery toast...I see nothing wrong with this picture.

But because I like to make things adventurous (sometimes difficult, my family would say) I like to keep dinner different each night with a sprinkle of familiar standbys. Now, that's not to say breakfast never happens for dinner. It's actually some of our favorites.

Here are a few new recipes I've tried in the last few weeks that got rave reviews at my house and they're so simple, I'll spare you the step by step photos. Hopefully they'll get you in the "try something new" mindset.

As mentioned, breakfast for dinner is a hit at my house. These lemon cornmeal pancakes from Two Peas and a Pod blog were so delish! There's nothing wrong with the flour based, fluffy flapjacks we all love, but the thought of adding lemon sounded like a nice switch. The cornmeal base makes them more cake like than normal. I'm a two pancake girl. I may have nibbled on a third later that night. I loved these topped with warm blackberry jam.

I'm ready for warmer weather and this southwestern avocado and black bean salad from Paula Dean sounded like a good transition to lighter meals. I did want some protein or texture so this night I sauteed some large shrimp in olive oil after tossing them in a few warm spices like cumin and a dash of cayenne plus garlic and onion powder. Both my husband and I cleared our plates but I can't help but think it could have been improved with even more lime juice and some cumin mixed in to the dressing.

I have to warn you--if we eat sushi together, I'll probably ask if I can have your pickled ginger. Yes, the garnish. The palate cleanser. I can't get enough of that hot pink pickled goodness. But I figured out how to make a good substitute to snack on at home. Picked red onions. This recipe on Bon Appetit's web site was so simple.

I made these to go on pork tacos--and promptly ruined the pork. Didn't matter. I've been eating these with a fork (and, ok, my fingers) all weekend. Simply slice a red onion thin and soak in apple cider vinegar, a little salt and sugar. I let these soak overnight....so good! Would be great on a barbecue sandwich. I might be making these all summer.

A few more "hits" at my house lately:

French dip crescent rolls from Mama Loves Food. Wish I would have doubled the recipe! This might be my new secret weapon at parties.

Strawberry season is too short. I'm making this addicting strawberry bruschetta from Annie's Eats until the last berry falls from the vine.

I'm not sure which was tastier, this blackened chicken from Sarcastic Cooking or the avocado cream on top. Use what you've got. She blended avocado with yogurt. I blended it with a little sour cream and mayo.

Like what you've seen here? Almost all of the recipes were found on Pinterest. Are you on Pinterest? Follow me here, I'll follow you and we'll find new favorites together.