Sweet grilled corn and mixed cherry tomatoes make a delicious fresh salsa that’s great on chips or tacos.
I love me some Mexican food. But where I live, a lot of it is a mushy pile of slop on a plate. So, this Irish lassie has learned to make Mexican at home. My favorite is tacos – any kind: ground beef, carnitas, shrimp, chicken, and of course, lobster tacos. Whenever I can, I make fresh salsa and guacamole (although Old El Paso still makes an appearance on busy school nights…). I douse all of it with a good shake of Cholula, my favorite hot sauce.
The ridiculous number of tomatoes on my counter required some creativity, so after making ratatouille, I decided on shrimp tacos topped with this grilled corn and cherry tomato salsa. The shrimp are simply tossed with some ancho, coriander, lime juice, cilantro and salt, then sauteed quickly. We then load up the toppings: guacamole, pickled onions, hot sauce, sour cream, and this salsa. The corn was fresh from the farm and I picked the tomatoes on Tuesday, so this salsa was sweeeeeeeeet. I tossed in a little jalapeno for some heat to contrast it. De-LISH! If you don’t have cherry tomatoes, you can chop a regular tomato, but I like the mix of colors in this – pretty food tastes good 🙂
And note well, the third dish I made with the tomatoes is the show stopper: insanely droolworthy Italian sausage subs with the sausage cooked in a bed of the tomatoes, which melt together with herbs and garlic into a sweet and sticky sauce. Watch this space. Recipe coming Monday.
- 1 ear corn, husked
- 1 clove garlic, unpeeled
- 1 pint mixed grape and cherry tomatoes
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced
- ¼ tsp. cumin
- 1 Tbsp. lime juice
- 1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
- Heat a grill pan over high heat. Rub a few drops of cooking oil on the outside of the corn and grill, turning frequently, until there are black spots on all sides, about 6-8 minutes. While the corn is cooking, put the garlic clove in the pan and let it cook until the skin is blackened in spots.
- Set corn and garlic clove aside to cool.
- Cut the tomatoes into quarters, or eighths if they are larger.
- When cool enough to handle, peel and mince the garlic and cut the kernels from the corn cob.
- In a medium bowl, combine the corn kernels, garlic, tomatoes, scallion, cumin and jalapeno. Season to taste with salt and stir well.
- Let sit about 15 minutes before serving.
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