I have made this recipe two ways, as a cold “salad” with avocado and warm without the onion and avocado. I like it both ways, but I think warm is my favorite. If you don’t have the Cotija cheese you might try feta or other tangy cheese. I think this is best with fresh corn, but if it is out of season (or you don’t feel like messing with fresh corn) Trader Joe’s makes a frozen roasted corn which might be a good substitute. You can also grill the corn if you want a little more of the char on the kernels. This makes a great side dish for Mexican food, grilled meat and veggies or any kind of cookout.

Ingredients

• 4 cups fresh corn kernels; about 6-7 ears
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 avocados, diced (optional)
• 2 limes, zested and juiced
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced (optional)
• 3/4 cup cotija cheese, crumbled
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3/4 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
• kosher salt, to taste

Directions

1. Shuck corn and slice kernels off the cob.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pan or skillet over medium-high heat and cook corn until semi-charred on all sides. About 8 minutes. You can also grill the corn for a more authentic Mexican street corn flavor.
3. Season with salt, then transfer corn to a large bowl
4. While the corn is still warm, add the cotija cheese and toss until cheese is slightly melted. You can serve it warm at this point.
5. Add red onion and parsley, then mix in chili powder, lime zest and juice, and mayonnaise. Refrigerate at this point if not serving immediately as the avocados will turn brown.
6. Toss everything together until evenly coated, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
7. Add avocados and serve.

This was also good with roasted grape tomatoes added.

My brother gave me the inspiration for this recipe. He is a fabulous cook and he and my sister in law Brenda are a great team in the kitchen. I put my own spin on it and served this as an appetizer at a birthday party. I failed to take photos so luckily I had one from the birthday girls iphone. I get so caught up in cooking and timing I forget to take photos, and I need a better camera! Hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Ingredients:

Serves 6 as an appetizer

• 1 pound large shrimp or prawns
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup good-quality tequila
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 tablespoons green Tabasco or other jalapeno hot sauce
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 cups diced ripe cherry, gold sunburst and/or grape tomatoes, drained
• 2 medium to large ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, and diced
• 1 bunch scallions (green tops only), thinly sliced
• Lime wedges for garnish

  Coarse sea salt, or Margarita salt

Directions:

1. For the shrimp: Heat a gas grill to medium high or prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire. (If using charcoal, be sure the grate is hot, too.) Put the prawns in a large bowl and mix with the olive oil until well coated. Put the shrimp on the grate directly over the heat and grill until pink and almost cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes, turning once halfway through. Let cool completely.

   For the “Margarita”: An hour before serving, whisk together the tequila, lime juice, orange juice and green Tabasco. Peel the shrimp, cut them into large pieces (about 1/2 inch), and toss with the tequila mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Just before serving, season the shrimp mixture with salt and pepper. (Alternatively, omit the kosher salt at this stage and sprinkle on a coarse sea salt like fleur de sel just before serving.) Gently fold in the tomatoes, avocados, and scallions, mixing well. Using a slotted spoon, portion the mixture into margarita glasses. Garnish with a wedge of lime, and the optional sea salt and salt the rim of the glass.

This was a great weeknight meal with leftovers. This would also freeze well if you make a double batch. I served with a Kale Salad. Adapted from a Smitten Kitchen recipe.

Ingredients:

Serves 4, with a salad

• 8 ounces pasta, any shape you like – I used Italian Trottole
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound summer squash, zucchini and yellow, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
• 1 carton yellow sunburst cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes) sliced in half and roasted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
• Juice of half a lemon
• 3 tablespoons (45 grams) unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons (25 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups 1% milk
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, divided
• red pepper flakes if you want a bit of spice
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped mixed herbs of your choice (I used a mix of thyme and oregano)
• Salt and more pepper to taste
• 1 cup finely grated parmesan or aged pecorino romano cheese, divided
• 1/2 shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup panko flakes
• paprika to sprinkle on the top

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta: Cook until al dente, about 1 to 2 minutes before perfect doneness. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat oven: To 400 degrees.
3. Prepare the squash: Heat a large skillet or the pot you just used to cook your pasta to high heat. Once hot, add olive oil, and let it heat until almost smoking. Add sliced squash, season it with salt and pepper flakes and let it sear underneath, unmoved, until golden brown. Continue to saute until browned and somewhat wilted, about 10 minutes, trying to get some color on each layer before moving squash around. Transfer to a bowl and squeeze lemon juice over bowl. Add more salt or pepper if needed.
4. Roast the tomatoes: Pre Heat oven to 350. Slice Grape Tomatoes in Half and place on a baking tray (I line mine with tin foil). Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil and course Salt. Roast for 20 minutes. Save any juice.
5. Make the sauce: Melt butter in bottom of a large pan. Add flour and stir until all has been dampened and absorbed. Add milk, a very small splash at a time, stirring the whole time with a spoon. Make sure each splash has been fully mixed scraping from the bottom of the pan and all around, before adding the next splash. Repeat until all milk has been added, then add lemon zest, salt and pepper to taste. Let mixture simmer together for 2 minutes, stirring frequently; the sauce will thicken. Remove pan from heat and stir in half of chopped parsley, all of mixed herbs and reserved scallion greens. Adjust seasoning to taste.
6. Assemble dish: Off the heat, add drained pasta, summer squash, 3/4 cup grated parmesan and all of the mozzarella to the pot, stirring to combine.Transfer mixture to a 3 quart ovenproof casserole or baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup parmesan.
7. Bake: For 25 to 30 minutes, until edges of pasta are golden brown and irresistible. Sprinkle with reserved parsley and serve hot. Reheat as needed.

I serve this with a salad but could be a side dish with some grilled meat. I almost always have zucchini, onions and grape tomatoes handy. This is adapted from a post by the Smitten Kitchen, one of the blogs I love. I accidentally put the filling in before I transferred the dough to the cookie sheet and it took the two of us to get it from the pastry board to the cookie sheet.. but we did it. it looked really pretty before that but still tasted great. Leftovers heat up very well. I also made the Galette with fresh plums for dessert – just forgot to take photos! The pastry board was made by my wonderful, super talented Brother.

For the pastry:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup ice water

For the filling:

• 3 cups grape and/or yellow cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• Olive oil – 6 tbs, divided
• 1 tsp course salt
• 3 sweet onions, thinly sliced
• 1 small zucchini or summer squash, diced
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan

Directions:

Make dough: Whisk stir the flour and salt in a large bowl. Sprinkle bits of butter over dough and using a pastry blender or your fingertips, work it into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with the biggest pieces of butter the size of tiny peas. In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, lemon juice and water and add this to the butter-flour mixture. With your fingertips or a wooden spoon, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Pat the lumps into a ball. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour, or up to 2 days.

Make filling: Heat the oven to 400 degrees, Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and spread out the tomatoes in a single layer. Drizzle with about 2 Tbs of olive oil and sprinkle with course sea salt. i have never measured, just go by eye. Roast the tomatoes for about 20 minutes.

While the tomatoes are roasting. Heat about 2 Tbs of olive oil in a large saute pan, caramelize the onions until golden brown. Add in zucchini and/or squash and cook until tender, about 2 minutes. Adjust seasonings if needed. Transfer mixture to a large plate and spread it out, so that it will cool faster. You want it cooled to at least lukewarm before assembling the galette.

Assemble galette: Heat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured counter or board, roll the dough out into a 12-inch round. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; Sprinkle tomato-zucchini-onion mixture with half of parmesan and spoon the mixture into the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Use a slotted sppon so you don’t get any extra liquid. Sprinkle with almost all of remaining parmesan. Fold the border over the filling. The center will be open.

Bake the galette: For 30 to 40 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.