The Wonderful World of Color: Red Corn And Radish Sprout Salad With Peanut Chili Dressing

    
   When I was a kid I used to love watching Disney's Wonderful World of Color.



   It didn't matter that we never had a color TV, we used our imaginations, that and a piece of cellophane that fitted over the TV screen, the top part blue, the middle pink, and a strip of green along the bottom. Who were we fooling?

   My other experience of color had to do with painting at midnight with my mom. That's usually when she was "inspired" and it often involved  a can of lavender paint, and a spray can of gold. We'd get roused out of bed at 1 a.m. and  armed with brushes, paint, and clear plastic pop beads to help make the dining room chandelier "fancier" we'd attempt to turn our humble row house into Versailles. In the morning, I'd get up and don my navy and white Catholic school uniform and go off till  3 'o'clock when I'd return to Fran's Wonderful World of Color, which always ended with my father's big statue of Jesus in the back yard being spray-painted gold. And then white again. And then gold. I grew up hating bright colors. My answer to every painting question as an adult has bee, "paint it white." Until now that is. We've been renovating the house we just bought and we are now God help us, at the painting stage.

   I never knew there were so many paint colors! Every paint company has different names for the same colors, and not only are there a zillion names, there are also sheens. Who knew about sheens? Flat, matte, eggshell, satin, and so on and so forth. I always said that this house I was gonna take a chance with decor, this house I was gonna go big, go bold, take chances. That is until I got into a few paint stores. Immediately I was intimidated, battered into submission by the difference between Simply White, and Swiss Coffee, which by the way is a different color depending on who's making it. Oh yeah. Paint.  Who names this stuff anyway?  You think I like walking into a store and asking for a gallon of Kitten Whiskers and a pint of Inner Balance? It's too zen. By the way, Zen is also a color. Actually any random word salad is probably a color. Paranoid Pelican, Pond Scum, yeah those are probably colors too, I'll have to check my color wheel (not) which weighs about 5 pounds. With all the color madness surrounding me it's no wonder I was attracted to the red corn I found at the farmers market. Those delicate tones of pale eggshell, blended with the lightest cream, and just a touch of Kitten Whiskers. It was calling to me and so I bought some.

   I thought I'd use this colorful corn to try a variation of the roasted pepper salad I'd made a couple of weeks before. I'm trying to compile a group of easy recipes for back yard get-togethers  this summer, plus I've been pretty lazy with all the color picking, and I wondered if I could make this work. Let me tell you, it worked like a charm. It worked so well, there was a battle over the left overs. Plus, fast and easy is always a winner. The corn, mixed with the spicy radish sprouts, the crunch of the peanuts, and heat from the chilies is a great combo. This recipe will work with any color corn, but if you should run across red corn grab some up,  toss a few ears on the grill and get cooking.

Red Corn And Radish Sprout Salad With Peanut, Chili Dressing

 

Here's What You Need:

4 ears of corn
1  and 1/2 Tbs olive oil plus a bit extra to rub on the corn
1/2 cup of roasted unsalted ground peanuts
3 Tbs chopped fresh chervil
salt to taste
2 cups radish sprouts
1 1/2  tsp dried red chili flakes
2 Tbs lemon juice

Here's What To Do: 

Shuck and clean 4 ears of corn.

Rub the cleaned ears with a bit of olive oil.

Just lightly cover them.

Place the ears of corn on the grill and cook them until they are lightly roasted.

Meanwhile, place the cleaned radish sprouts in a bowl and set them aside.

Add the 1/2 cup of ground up roasted unsalted peanuts  to a small bowl.
Mix in 2 Tbs of lemon juice
1 and 1/2 Tbs of olive oil
Salt to taste
Add in the torn up 3 Tbs of chervil.

Add in 1 and 1/2 tsp of red chili flakes.

Mix everything together well. Set it aside.
Take the kernels off the ears of roasted corn.

Add the roasted corn kernels to the bowl of radish sprouts.

Mix everything together well.

 
Whisk in the peanut chili dressing.

Give it a good stir so that everything is covered, and serve it up!

   This salad can be served hot of cold. It's great as part of a vegetarian menu and also works well with any sort of grilled meat. I'm actually thinking of using this dish as a base for a salmon salad. Give it a whirl, if your family likes peanuts, and corn this could be a keeper. Coming up next, Avocados, and CocoaPlanet  Deep Dark Truffle Chocolate hook up for a Summer romance. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori


  

Ebony And Ivory, Black Bean and White Corn Salad.

    I love simple salads that take just a minute or two to make out of fresh ingredients, satisfy everybody and cost peanuts. I especially love them when the fresh collard greens I went looking for at the farm turned out to not be in season and I was stuck for a fast, cheap and easy side dish. So this is going to be as quick a post as this dish is to make. All it requires is black beans, fresh corn and roasted red peppers. I've been making this recipe for close to 20 years. It originally started out as a cold Angel Hair pasta salad I used to serve at barbecues and bring to pot lucks. People liked it and the recipe spread around Santa Monica and West LA.  This is a modified version sans pasta.

Bean And Corn Summer Salad

Here's what to do:
 In a large bowl mix together 2 cups of cooked black beans. (If you don't have cooked fresh black beans canned will do. Just rinse them well until the water runs clear).
 Husk and wash 3 ears of white corn. Scrape the kernels off the corn into a separate bowl. In a pinch, frozen corn will do, but try, try, try to get fresh.
 Roast and peel 1 red pepper, or for extra-fast fixing, open a jar of any roasted red peppers. (I always use peppers made by my morning coffee buddy Ron Mezzetta). Chop the peppers into small bites.
 Mix the peppers into the black beans.
 In a skillet heat about 2 Tbs of olive oil
 When the olive oil is hot, toss in the corn kernels and saute them lightly until they soften.
 Mix the sauteed corn with the beans and peppers.
 In a small bowl mix together
  3 Tbs of sherry vinegar
  6 Tbs of olive oil
 Salt to taste
 Add a bit of lime juice
Whisk it well and pour it over the salad. Toss everything together well, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
 Just before serving mix in some chopped fresh cilantro.
  And there it is, from shelf or freezer to table in about a half hour. Who says stuff has to be complicated? Coming up next bottle gourd, the zucchini on steroids. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

Fire Up The Grill, Toss the Slaw, I've Got The Fastest Salad Ever!!! Plus, Enter To Win Tropical Traditions Coconut

  
   There are days when no matter how much I love it, I just don't feel like cooking. When the lazy don't feel like cooking, the lazy go out to eat. That does happen sometimes but most of the time, since we try to watch what we eat and keep it on the healthy/organic side, I cook. It's one way of keeping track of what's going in, and since there are so many amazing vegetables to be found around here, it would be a shame to ignore them. I mean, they need me! So I keep a repertoire of easy to prepare side dishes. Things that can be made quickly, cheaply and above all... fast!
   So, that's why I'm sneaking this recipe for probably one of the easiest tastiest things I've ever fixed,  Radish and Peanut Salad.
   The other reason I'm tossing this in here is that I'm cooking a major Indian dinner tomorrow night and I didn't want to stress over what to eat for lunch today. This salad goes with a total vegetarian meal, or just toss something on the grill and this snappy little salad makes a great alternative to the usual cole slaw.
  Here's how it goes.
    Roughly chop 2/3 cup of roasted unsalted peanuts

   Wash, dry and chop about 1/2 pound of radishes. First take off the top and bottoms of each radish.

Then quarter each radish. You can even cut them a bit smaller depending on the size of radishes.

     In a small saucepan heat 1 Tbs of vegetable oil. I use coconut oil.
   When the oil is hot toss in:
   1/4 tsp of cumin seed
   1/4 tsp of black mustard seed

  Shake the pan until the seeds start to pop.
   When they begin to pop add in:
 1/4 tsp of turmeric
 1/4 tsp of salt
  Take the pan off the heat and add in:
 1 Tbs  of lemon juice
   Mix it in well and let the mixture cool.
  Meanwhile mix the radishes and peanuts together.

When the oil and spice mixture has cooled, pour it over the radishes and peanuts.

Mix it in well. That's it. Really. No, really. That's all it takes.

  Bingo! You've got salad.
   So there's your 10 minute barbecue/block party/pot luck/picnic star!
   I'm getting back to my dinner prep, more to follow.
Meanwhile, if you'd like to enter the Tropical Traditions Organic Shredded Coconut Giveaway here's how!!

Just A Reminder About my Giveaway
  If you'd like to get some Tropical Traditions Organic Shredded Coconut,  I'm going to be giving away 1 tub of dried shredded coconut to a lucky winner. Here are the rules.
  1.) Subscribe to Tropical Traditions free e-mail Newsletter by clicking the link. They offer all sorts of product specials and cool free recipes.
   After you do this, leave a comment on my blog letting me know you have, and either Twitter about my giveaway (@kathygori) or mention it on your blog with a link, and let me know.
Or
2.) Subscribe to the Tropical Traditions Newsletter and if you don't follow me on Twitter, follow me @kathygori and Twitter about the giveaway. Or sign up to follow my blog The Colors Of Indian Cooking and let me know you've mentioned the giveaway on your blog with a link.
Or
3.) Subscribe to the Tropical Traditions Newsletter and mention my blog and giveaway on Facebook, then let me know you have.
    I have to add for the fine print here:
Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.
    I'm offering this shredded coconut because I've been using it and it's great and I wanted  someone else to be able to enjoy it also.
  The winner will be drawn randomly through Random.org on Sept 1st.

Fast ,Cool ,Mango Salad!

On a hot summer day one wants to spend as little time n the kitchen as possible, but also it's great having family and friends over. And they must be fed? How do you accomplish both of these tasks with a minimum of muss and fuss..so today I'm going to suggest a few things to do with yogurt.
Indian meals almost always contain a nice cooling yogurt dish, or raita...considering that many Indian dishes can be on
the hot and spicy side something cool at the table..besides you..always helps.
A raita can be simple just yogurt and seasonings, maybe a shredded cucumber tossed in
or a vegetable, such as spinach or tomato can be added but for a treat of treats a big favorite at our house, try a fresh mango chopped up and mixed with spices and some shredded coconut.
There are great deals on mangos right now, so have your own cash for clunker salad and trade in your coleslaw, or greens at the barbecue for this stunner.
This recipe is my adaptation of a Madhur Jaffrey recipe that she credits to a Mrs. Bidapa, but mango salad recipes are mango salad recipes and they're found all over southern India. Most have the same basic ingredients.
Mango Salad:

!.) Get One large ripe mango, or if you can't find one use two smaller ones.
2.) Peel and chop it/them into chunks, of about 1/2 inch to 1 inch in size
3.) grind up 3/4 tsp. of brown mustard seeds.
Now get out your plain yogurt. One can use full, or non fat..whatever you've got.
4.) Put 1 cup of plain yogurt into a bowl. Whisk it up make it nice and creamy smooth
5.)Add the ground up mustard seeds
6.) Add either 1/8 tsp. or 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne....it's up to you how hot you want this.
Here's an optional ingredient.
7.) Add 1 Tbs, finely grated fresh coconut if you can get it.
When we lived in LA I always had a bag of frozen fresh coconut from the nearby Indian market Baharat Bazaar
in the freezer. Here in Sonoma..not so much. I have found that finely grated dried coconut UNSWEETENED mixed with a bit of water to moisten it up works just as well. As I said this step is optional..but it's sooooo good.
8.) Add 1 tsp of sugar
9.) !/4 tsp of salt.
10.) stir in the mango chunks and mix it up.
Now for the Chaunk!
I've talked about this final step before and it's what gives this salad it's tasty kick.

So, Chaunk:
In a small skillet heat a bit of oil..usually about 1 Tbs.
1.) when it's hot add 1/4 tsp. of whole brown mustard seeds
2.) As soon as they start to pop toss in 1 whole dried red chili
3.) When it starts to turn dark, toss in a small shallot that's been peeled and thinly sliced
4.) Stir it all all till the shallot is browned, then pour it all into the bowl of mango salad...
Hear it hiss..listen to the deliciousness! Stir it up well and mix it all in.
This can be served..cold or at room temperature. It'll feed 4 to 6 people

Either way when cooking Indian, always remember ,man or woman does not live by heat alone and what gets hotted up always has to be cooled down one way or another.