The Passionate Pursuit of Delight

Ingredient: corn

Grilled Mexican Corn with Spicy Mayo

Grilled Mexican Street Corn with Spicy Mayo

Fresh corn on the cob, it’s like baseball, apple pie, and the Fourth of July! Stopping by a farm stand and picking up fresh corn is one of life’s simple pleasures. Sweetie and I recently stopped by a new-ish restaurant in the Heber Valley called Main Street Social.  We enjoyed a delicious Mexican-inspired street corn dish. Obviously, I had to try to recreate this tasty meal at home. Grilled Mexican Corn with Spicy Mayo is the result.

Summertime corn has a sweetness and crunch that cannot be found any other time of the year. So, for the weeks in the summer that is it on, I try to utilize it in every way that I can imagine. I would love to hear about your favorite ways to eat corn in the comments below.

Three Ways to Grill Corn

While testing the recipe for Grilled Mexican Corn with Spicy Mayo, we wanted to try a few different ways of cooking the corn on the grill.  So, we bought a dozen ears, fired up the grill, and tried three different ways:

  1. Silks and husks intact
  2. Silks removed and husks pulled back over cob
  3. Silks removed and husks pulled back (or away) from the cob (see photos below)

Grilled Mexican Street Corn with Spicy MayoSweetie and I both decided that we didn’t care for the second option. But, from here we disagreed. I preferred the corn that had the silks removed and then the husks pulled back like a handle. This method gives the corn that beautiful char from direct contact with the grill. Sweetie preferred the first method which results in a moist, steamed cob of corn. The choice is yours.

Once the corn is grilled you can decide if you want to serve the cob whole or cut into smaller pieces. If you prefer the corn cob whole, then I would drizzle the spicy mayo over the whole cob and top with onions, cheese, and chives. If you want to serve the corn in bite-sized pieces, I like to pour the spicy mayo in the bottom of a serving dish and arrange the pieces of corn on the sauce. Then, top the corn with the onions, cheese, and chives.

Corn-lovers may want to check out these recipes for Shrimp and Corn Ceviche and Fiesta Buddha Bowls.

Grilled Mexican Corn with Spicy Mayo

Fiesta Buddha Bowl

Fiesta Buddha Bowl

I live on Buddha bowls. I cook the components for Buddha bowls as part of batch cooking for the week. When I first started making them I didn’t know that they were called Buddha bowls. I just called them bowls. But, I love the name Buddha bowls now, so that is how I always refer to them. For the uninitiated, a Buddha bowl is simply a meal that consists of a grain, a green, and a bean.

The grain can be rice (brown, white, red, black, or wild), quinoa, wheat berries, or any other grain that you fancy. Be adventurous and try some new grains. Peruse the bulk bins at your grocery store and find a new grain to try. You can buy a small amount of a few different types and see which ones you like. You can google how to cook any grains for instructions on how to prepare them.

Fiesta Buddha BowlFor greens, I like to use raw greens which are hearty like chopped Romaine or kale. Or, sometimes I will use sauteed greens like Swiss chard or spinach. But, I often substitute other veggies in my bowls like roasted broccoli, Brussels sprouts, or cauliflower. This isn’t science, just use what you like!

I always have cans of beans in my pantry. I couldn’t pick a favorite. I love them all. They each offer unique character to a dish. On any given day, you can find garbanzos, black beans, white beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans in my pantry. I also keep a stash of dried beans handy. They are so cheap, easy to cook, and a great source of fiber and protein.

Fiesta Buddha Bowl

As you can see, Buddha bowls are perfect for make-ahead meals. Cook a big batch of your grains over the weekend, open a can of beans, and then decide what vegetables you want to include. Then, you will have a quick easy dinner and left overs for lunch.

I often will see an ingredient at the store that will inspire my Buddha bowl for the week. This week I found avocados on sale at my local market. Instantly, I know that a Fiesta Buddha Bowl was going to happen this week. Over the weekend, I made a batch of brown rice. I had black beans, Romaine lettuce, salsa, corn, onions, salsa and pepitas in my pantry. Along with the avocados, I was set!

Fiesta Buddha Bowl

I will be featuring ideas different Buddha bowls in the coming months. But, there are seriously so easy that I encourage you to come up with some combinations of your own featuring ingredients that you love. I would love to know if you have any favorite bowl combinations.  Feel free to leave me some ideas in the comments below.

Fiesta Buddha Bowl Pin

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