~ Fresh Corn cakes with black bean, roasted corn salad ~

September 10, 2012

This post is dedicated to Food Network’s summer fest’s special edition: Back to school lunches! I remember when I was a kid, tiffins were the highlights of my day! I used to wait eagerly for the lunch recess so I can sit back, relax and indulge my mom made various dishes everyday and sometimes share it too!! Aah precious childhood!

So this time I am participating with my recipe of Corn (pan)cakes with yummy black bean salad. Corny, spicy, lemony and cumin flavored aah absolutely refreshing! This (pan)cakes have become one of our favorites for summer or at least till we get fresh corn in the market! It’s very easy to make but I guarantee it will become your favorite too!

So here’s what you will need:

Corn (pan)cakes with Black bean, roasted corn salad

Total time: 40-45 minutes

Corn cakes: Yields: 6-8 cakes

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh corn or 1 cup pureed partially
1 ½ cup Yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp roasted cumin seeds
1 Jalapeno, chopped finely
1 Tbsp honey
½ cup buttermilk (or use as required)
Few Tbsps of Olive oil for the corn cakes

Method:

Puree corn using food processor. Make sure you do not completely liquidity it, leave some coarse chunks too. Keep it aside.
In a medium mixing bowl add cornmeal, baking powder, salt, cumin seeds, honey along with chopped jalapenos and pureed corn. Mix well and add buttermilk as required few tablespoons at a time. Again mix well and keep it aside for at least 20 minutes.
When you are ready to make the cakes, pre-heat the non-stick pan. Check on corn batter, if it is too dry add more buttermilk and make it a pourable consistency. Check on salt too. 🙂
When pan is hot, with a measuring cup pour 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet for each corn cake. Splash bit of olive oil on each side of cakes while cooking them. Cook until you see caramelized layer on the cakes. This will take 2-3 minutes on each side.
Serve warm with slightly cold roasted corn salad.

Note: The cakes won’t be too soft and fluffy like pancakes because we are not using eggs here. But I love the texture.

Black bean and Roasted corn salad

Ingredients:

2 Corn on the cobs
1 can organic black beans – rinsed
1 Red bell pepper diced
1 Jalapeno, chopped
½ cup chopped green onions (optional)
½ cup Chopped fresh cherry tomatoes
½ Cumin Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Method:

Grill corn on the gas stove and let it cool down before you cut the corn off the cob.
In a large serving bowl, mix all the ingredients above and refrigerate it until you are ready to serve.

Cumin lemon vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1 tsp Roasted cumin powder
3 Tbsp Freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 Tbsp Avocado oil or Olive oil
½ cup Finely chopped cilantro leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

In a bowl, whisk lemon juice and oil along with salt, pepper and cumin powder. Mix thoroughly. Add cilantro leaves when you are ready to use the vinaigrette. Store it in a glass jar in refrigerator.

How to assemble:

Layer your serving platter with warm corn (pan)cakes and top it with Slightly cold Bean salad tossed in Cumin vinaigrette and garnish with some cilantro leaves, cumin powder and some cheese (if you prefer).