Culls & Corn
I am blessed to have the fortune of occasionally cooking meals for my peers at work and whipping up whatever is inspiring me at the moment based on what’s fresh in the market. I wasn’t intending to make anything this week for my coworkers, but changed my mind when a pile of discarded corn was brought to my attention. It may seem early, but the corn is poppin’ right now! Organic corn though is prone to many bugs and worms, which is why we end up culling through a lot of it—most people don’t want to purchase pests along with their produce. Really, though, it’s simple to cut around any unwanted parts of a vegetable and put to use the completely edible parts.A lot of time and care went into the effort to create this item of food and not something we should easily discard as waste.
Nevertheless, the corn was now in my possession and I decided to make a salad that screamed of summer and took advantage of the grill as well. I used an indoor grill to cook up my veggies, but it’s totally possible to achieve the same affects in or on the oven.
Simultaneously this week I made another trip to the Berkeley Bowl where I happened to get lucky and score a massive amount of messed up looking veg that cost me 99 cents a bag. And they pack the bags full. Needless to say, that dictated how I was going to make dinner. I still had culled corn and now a great haul from Berkeley that was going to make 2 more fantastic meals, 3 if you count what I made for my coworkers.
Again, if you for some reason don’t have access to these root veggies or don’t like them, you don’t have to use them. They are easily substitutable and can be replaced with squashes, carrots, or any other hearty veg.
The corn is hard to replace because it provides that substantial sweetness and texture.
Lastly, the serving sizes for these salads may be big, but both are really excellent leftover salad, meaning they are wonderful the longer they sit and marinade in their dressings. Make a large batch and eat it all week. Save yourself some trouble and set yourself up for success as the week goes by!
Shaved Root Vegetables | Ricotta | Corn Salad
Serves 4-6
1 bunch purple baby turnips, thinly sliced or shaved
1 bunch white baby turnips, thinly sliced or shaved
1 bunch breakfast radishes, thinly sliced or shaved
3 Japanese cucumbers, thinly sliced
2 ears corn, cut off the cob
1 spring onion, thinly sliced
2 heads endive, roughly chopped
1 cup crumbled ricotta
1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped
½ cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
1 tbsp fennel, toasted
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp miso paste
2 lemons, juiced and zested
1 tbsp Aleppo pepper
1 tbsp salt
Begin by making the vinaigrette so the root vegies can have some time to marinate. Put the lemon juice, zest, olive oil, miso, and fennel seeds in a mason jar. Shake well, taste, and season with more salt if necessary.
Place the radishes, turnips and spring onion into a large mixing bowl. Pour half of the dressing in and toss well so everything’s coated. Set aside to marinate for 10-15 minutes.
Once properly marinated and the veggies have begun to wilt, add the cucumbers, parsley, ricotta, pumpkin seeds and endive and toss well. If desired, add more dressing so everything is once again well coated. Serve!
Corn | Carrot | Summer Squash Salad
Makes 10-12 servings
6 ears corn, husk on
6 spring onions
4 rainbow/purple carrots, peeled into ribbons with vegetable peeler
4 summer squash, peeled into ribbons with vegetable peeler
1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped with stems
4 cherry bomb peppers
1 jalapeno, minced
1 cup crumbled ricotta salata
3 large limes, juiced
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2+ tbsp salt
1 tbsp freshly cracked pepper
Use either the stove or broiler setting of the oven to char the corn, spring onions, and cherry bomb peppers. Just make sure there’s some form of direct heat involved so the vegetables get properly blackened.
Place the corn over heat or under broiler with the husk on. Rotate on each side until everything has charred completely. Set aside to cool in a large mixing bowl.
Repeat the same steps with the spring onions and cherry bomb peppers. Once fully charred, then cooled, roughly chop the spring onions and thinly slice the peppers. Add to the bowl with the corn.
Marinate the corn, pepper, onion mix with the dressing, which just consists of the lime juice, olive oil, pepper and some of the salt. Give a quick mix.
Prepare an ice bath and add both the shaved carrots and squash. The cold water will crisp them up before hitting the salad. Drain and dry well, then add to the dressed veggies. To the bowl also add the jalapeno, cilantro, and ricotta. Mix well and check for seasoning—add more salt if necessary.
