Mexican Street Corn Taco Salad

We eat tacos every Tuesday in this house, the kids love them and they usually have a very busy Tuesday. They are growing like weeds and are so hungry at the end of the day so I'm very happy to please. Who doesn't love a taco?! I have a go-to seasoning blend that I will share below and alternate between beef, ground turkey, bison, and even elk (yes, my kids will eat any of the above).

Fresh summer corn is finally arriving in the grocery store and I just had to have it tonight. We all love Mexican Street Corn and I thought it would be fun to combine the two dishes into one simple meal. I love a good hard shell taco but I always overfill mine and Johnny and I usually end up crushing the shells and turning ours into a giant messy salad. Having a composed dish is fun from time to time and I had a good time with this one. I shared some abbreviated directions for tonight's salad below.

What you need:

For the taco meat:

1 lb ground beef, bison, or elk

Taco Seasoning Blend:

2 1/2 tsp. cumin

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1/4 tsp. dried crushed chipotle chili

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 tbsp ketchup (yes, adds a touch of tomato sweetness and balances the smokey/spicey)

For the Mexican Street Corn Dressing:

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayo

2 limes, 1 lemon juiced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp dried cilantro

salt and pepper

3 tbsp grated cotija cheese

Stir until well combined, make at least 15 minutes in advance so flavors can develop.

Roast or Grill 3 corn cobs and slice the kernals off the cob after they have cooled.

Cook your meat in a sauté pan over medium heat and add the spices when about 1/2 of it is no longer pink. Stir occasionally and break up the meat until it's cooked through.

For the salad I combined about 2 heads of romaine finely chopped, 1 avocado pitted and chopped, all of the corn, about 1/3 of the dressing, and a bit more cotija and crushed taco shells for topping.

Smoky Cauliflower Steaks

When cauliflower is slowly roasted with olive oil, butter, smoky spices, and a teensy bit of brown sugar it is transformed into the most savory, caramelized, delicious food you could imagine. Even someone who loves meat and craves it all of the time (like me) can be satisfied with a large cauliflower steak and call it a meal. I had it last night for dinner and am sad there are no leftovers. We cleaned our plates and scraped up every last bit out of the pan, sadly it’s all gone today. I think the cauliflower tastes good enough all on its own if you wanted to chop up the florets and make this as a side dish. For a meal, its nice to have something green and bright on the plate and the chimichurri sauce pairs nicely with the smokiness and char of the cauliflower.

This is a rough recipe since I’m still sort of on vacation mode, I guesstimated most of the seasoning and for chimichurri, I don’t think you can ever add too much parsley. Adjust the flavors to suit yourself.

What you need:

1 large head of cauliflower sliced into three 1 inch steaks, save the ends and random pieces for another use

About 4 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp dried, crushed chipotle chilis

2 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp fresh ground salt

2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 small shallot finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 tbsp melted or softened butter

Preheat the oven to 425. Place your cauliflower steaks in a large baking pan and coat on all sides with olive oil. Now take all of your spices, shallot, and garlic and rub into the cauliflower. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and flip over with a spatula, brush melted butter over the top and place back in the oven for another 15 minutes. When cauliflower has softened and browned all over it should be done. I like to turn on the broiler for the last 2 minutes to give it a nice char on top.

For the Chimichuri Sauce, this is my go-to recipe:

3/4 cup of fresh parsley

2 tbsp fresh oregano and/or cilantro

3-4 cloves of garlic

1 large shallot

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper or mixed peppercorns

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup olive oil

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

Chop your herbs, shallot, and garlic and mix all ingredients in a bowl. Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes. You want to allow the vinegar to have time to mellow out the garlic and shallot. Can be made up to 24 hours in advance. I am a firm believer you can never have too much parsley, but adjust to your tastes.

Niçoise Style Potato Salad

I love a good Niçoise salad but the trouble is prepping all of the ingredients in advance and having to reassemble them later. If you happen to have boiled potatoes, blanched green beans, etc and need to use them up, fantastic, but I rarely have all of those ingredients prepped in my refrigerator. I decided to simplify the steps and combine them all in the same way you would prepare a potato salad. The result was tangy, flavorful, and delicious. This keeps for a couple of days just perfectly in the refrigerator and you can pull it out at serving time. It’s a meal on its own but great for a pot luck or as we had it last night, alongside grilled pork.

I actually used just one pot of boiling water for the potatoes, eggs, and green beans. I peeled and chopped the potatoes and put them in a pot and filled it up with water. Then I added 4 eggs which was all that was left in the fridge. Sadly two of them floated to the top which is a bad sign so I discarded those two. I recommend using 4 eggs if you can! I put the pot on the stove and brought it to a boil. Make your dressing while these cook. I think a 6 minute egg is the perfect boiled egg, the yolk will be slightly jammy and soft. After 6 minutes use tongs or a slotted spoon to carefully retrieve your eggs. Set the eggs aside to cool. Allow the potatoes to keep boiling until they are soft...another 10 minutes or so. Now wash and chop your green beans and put them into a large colander. When the potatoes are finished remove them from the stove top and pour the potatoes and boiling water over the green beans into the strainer. This way you have cooked your potatoes, eggs, and green beans all at once! Now rinse your potatoes and beans with a quick blast of water to cool them down and remove the excess starch from the potatoes, allow to cool slightly in the strainer then transfer them to a bowl and stir in your dressing. Place the bowl in the fridge while you prep the other ingredients.

The eggs should now be cold enough to handle, I have found the spoon method to be the easiest way to peel (just google it, basically use a spoon to gently lift the shell…its brilliant). Chop your tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives and add them to the potatoes and green beans. Stir everything well and refrigerate until serving time. If you have any fresh herbs I think that would be a really good addition (basil, parsley, dill, tarragon…whatever you like) but I would add them last so their brightness really shines through. Enjoy!

What you need:

For the dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp course ground dijon

juice of one lemon

1 shallot

1.5 tbsp capers

2 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Add everything to a jar and whisk.

For the salad:

2 cups potatoes

1 cup green beans

3 or 4 hard boiled eggs

1/2 cup pitted and halved kalamata olives

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 english cucumber sliced

Salt, pepper, fresh herbs to taste