Corn and Avocado Salad

This recipe is from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Everyone enjoys this, I end up making it just about everytime we grill in the summer (which is a lot).

Corn Salad with Avocado

2T oil (recipe says corn, I use vegetable)

4-6 ears corn, stripped of kernels (2-3 C)

1 small red onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 t mild chile powder

1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped

1 medium ripe avocado, diced

S&P to taste

juice of 2 limes

1/2 C chopped cilantro leaves

Put oil in large skillet and turn to high heat. When oil is hot toss in the corn. Let it sit for a minute then stir or shake pan to toss the corn. Brown for about 5 minutes then turn off the heat stir in onion, pepper, chile powder, salt, and pepper.

Cool for a few minutes then toss in remaining ingredients. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

My notes:

This recipe is hard to mess up, it's very forgiving. I love cumin, so I always add cumin to this. I prefer to grill the corn and then lightly heat in a pan w/the pepper, onion, chile power, salt, pepper, and cumin. This recipe serves 4, but I just keep adding stuff til I think it's enough for however many people I have. Cutting the corn off the ear can be tricky, my Mom stands the ear up in a bowl and cuts from the top down. Most of the kernels stay in the bowl. This probably goes without saying, but it does not keep well b/c of the avocado.

Ultimate Beef Chili

Ultimate Beef Chili Stew
Jeff staunchly maintains a stance that chili does not have beans in it. I personally do not have a problem with beans in my chili. But to make him feel better I changed the name of this to stew... but to me it's chili.


From EatingWell: January/February 1999
12 servings (1C) | Active time 1 hr | Total time 3 1/4 hrs

Ingredients
1 lb beef round, trimmed and cut into 1/2 in chunks
1 1/2 T canola oil, divided
3 onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
6 cloves garlic, minved
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
2 T ground cumin
2 T chili powder
1 T paprika
2 t dried oregano
12 oz dark or light beer
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
8 sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil) nipped into small pieces
2 bay leaves
3 19 oz cans dark kidney beans, rinsed
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
2 T lime juice

Chopped peppers and onions

Preparation
Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat 1 1/2 t oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add half the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides, 2-5 minutes.  Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels.  Repeat with another 1 1/2 t oil and remaining beef.
Reduce heat to medium and add remaining 1 1/2 t oil to the pot.  Add onions and bell peppers; cook, stirring frequently, until onions are golden brown, 10-20 minutes.  Add garlic, jalapenos, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and oregano.  Stir until aromatic, about 2 minutes.
Add beer and simmer, scraping up any browned bits, for about 3 minutes.  Add diced tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, bay leaves, and reserved beef.  Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beef is very tender, 1 1/2 - 2 hrs.
Add beans; cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until chili has thickened, 30-45 minutes.  Remove bay leaves. Stir cilantro and lime juice.  Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Nutrition
235 calories; 5 g fat; 1 g sat; 2 g mono; 24 mg cholesterol; 31 g carbs; 17 g protein; 11 g fiber; 496 mg sodium; 582 mg potassium

Tips & Notes
Make ahead tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 2 months.  For a hot, smoky chili, add 1 T chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce.

1/2 way thru

Finished chili - stew

Notes from Me!
I bought top round stew meat. Otherwise I didn't change anything. It's headed to the freezer as we speak.