Still lucky enough to have some ears of sweet corn entering your kitchen these past few weeks? Here is a great use of them. This is a simple vegetarian recipe, that takes little effort and is really delish. It can be served as a side or a main dish, with a side salad.

Sweet Corn Fritters

Adapted from Gen Y Foodie

• 4 Ears Fresh Corn, Shucked and Cleaned
• 1 Jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 1 Small-Medium Red Onion Onion, minced
• 4-5 Cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 Eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Breadcrumbs
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Medium Avocado, diced
• Sriacha Sauce (optional)
• 1/4 Cup Apple sauce (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cut corn off of cob into a large bowl. 

2. Mix corn, garlic, onion, jalapeno, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Mix in beaten egg and flour, and stir to thoroughly combine.

3. Shape corn mixture into patties and dust with breadcrumbs. If you’re having a hard time keeping them together, you can either add some apple sauce, or another egg to the mixture (I opted for apple sauce, which worked perfectly).

4. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook fritters in hot oil for 3 minutes on each side, then transfer to baking sheets and bake for an additional 10 minutes. 

5. Serve fritters with sriacha (or hot sauce of your choice) and top with diced avocado. Enjoy!

A few nights ago I had some avocados and a bunch of cilantro that I wanted to use and opted to try out this recipe. I actually don’t really like cilantro (it kind of tastes like soap to me) but I can tolerate it. I’m glad I didn’t let the “cilantro” in the title deter me— this was absolutely delicious, and definitely something I’ll be making again in the future! It is a great meal for guests- you could plan a little Mexican style fiesta, with enchiladas, chips and guacamole, and some margaritas, and salsa the night away.

Black Bean Veggie Enchiladas

Adapted from Oh She Glows

• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 Large Onion (~2 cups)
• 6 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 2 Cups Sweet Potato, peeled and diced
• 1 Large Bell Pepper, diced
• 4-5 Handfuls Fresh Spinach
• 1-2 Cans Black Beans (2 1/2 cups)
• 1 Bottle Enchilada Sauce (14 oz.)
• 1 Tsp. Ground Cumin
• Juice of 1/2 of 1 Lime
• 1/2 Tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1/2 Tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 Tsp. Chili Powder
• 6 Whole Wheat Tortilla Wraps
• Mexican Style Cheese (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Simmer sweet potato in a small pot of water until just fork tender, about 8 minutes (be careful not to overcook). Drain and set aside.

2. In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add diced onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook a minute longer, until fragrant. Add pepper, pre-cooked sweet potato, and drained and rinsed black beans, and cook 3-5 minutes more.

3. Add spinach and toss until wilted. Now add enchilada sauce— I used Trader Joe’s enchilada sauce, which was delish. (Save a little enchilada sauce to top the casserole). Season with lime juice, salt, garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder, or to taste.

4. In a large casserole dish spread about 3/4-1 cup of the filling. Then begin to fill the tortillas with about 1/2-3/4 cup filling, and place each in the dish seam-side down.

Leave a little filling and enchilada sauce to spread across the top. Bake for 10 minutes, then sprinkle some cheese across the top, if desired. Bake an additional 10 minutes (18-20 minutes total).

Top each with Avocado Cilantro Crema:

• 2 Avocados
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 2-3 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 Tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Cup Packed Fresh Cilantro
• 1 Tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1/2 Tsp. Garlic Powder
• 3/4 Tsp. Ground Cumin
• Black pepper, to taste
• Crushed red peppers, to taste

Inspired by Carys’ healthy diet, I have been trying to eat more fish lately— tuna, tilapia, salmon, whatever’s on the menu. At home I have been trying to think of new ways to prepare fish, rather than my standard versions. Last week Slip and I made this for dinner— and it was super easy and super delicious! I honestly felt like I was in a restaurant when I was dining on this full-flavored dish.

Slip prepared the salsa while I made the tuna. This was a tasty addition to the fish, bringing in some fresh citrus flavor from the mango and lime juice, a little kick from cayenne pepper, and avocado, which is a natural pair with tuna. That’s pretty much all the salsa was— diced mango, avocado, grape tomatoes, diced shallot, some lime juice, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper. Feel free to spice it up or add whatever you want— garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, etc.

To make the tuna— one large tuna steak is plenty for 2 people (sushi grade tuna is the best). I seasoned the tuna with salt and pepper and marinaded it for about 10 minutes in a mixture of orange juice, teriyaki sauce, and sesame seeds. Heat your skillet over medium heat until it is very hot. You can add about 1-2 tsp of sesame oil to the pan if you want some extra flavor. Sear the tuna for about 3 minutes on each side (the tuna will be rare in the middle). When tuna is done squeeze the juice from about 1/4 lime over the top. Slice into 1 inch pieces and serve over Israeli couscous (ours was seasoned with garlic, cranberries and basil):

Top with mango avocado salsa. Enjoy!

Right before we left Austin to head down to San Antonio for A and Z’s wedding we had time to enjoy a leisurely lunch with Amelia on Lake Austin at the lovely and Hawaiian theme inspired Hula Hut.

Only downside of the entire lunch? The gigantic fish in the water wasn’t working so we couldn’t put in $2 to make it dance. Total bummer.

Upsides of the lunch? All the delicious uses of avocado we encountered. Example 1, guacamole salad, served with massive amounts of guacamole and mango salsa. Yum!

Example 2? I don’t think there are words to describe how amazing this was. The “Kawaikini Stuffed Avocado”— a fried haas avocado, stuffed with chicken and cheese, served on top of salsa and queso blanco. Creamy, crunchy, cheesy Mexican goodness, totally worth the massive amount of calories (it’s an avocado, so it’s kind of healthy, right?) 

Totally salivating while posting these pictures…

Ok, so the goal now is to figure out how to recreate this in my own home. In the meantime, if you’re lucky enough to live in or travel to Austin, go to the Hula Hut! The scenery alone is worth it— who wouldn’t love enjoying a margarita while gazing out at a giant green dancing fish on a beautiful lake? If that doesn’t do it for you, the avocado might. PS the chicken chili rellenos were phenomenal, too.

Inspired by my recent trip to TX and all the amazing tacos involved, I decided to try my hand at some in my own kitchen (PS big props to A and Z for the breakfast tacos at the end of your wedding! Perfection!) Here’s how easy it is—

I like to stock up on frozen tilapia from Trader Joe’s because it is healthy and easy when you’re stressed for a midweek meal. I took out a pack of three (plenty for leftover lunches the next day) and let them defrost. Once ready I did a double dip— once into a bowl of milk seasoned with hot sauce, salt and pepper, next into a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of flour and bread crumbs (cornmeal would have been perfect though), seasoned with paprika, garlic powder, and chili powder.

Meanwhile, fish cooks best if the pan is super hot. Adding a splash of olive oil to the pan allow it to heat up. Add the fish to the pan and cook until done, a few minutes on each side (fish will flake easily when finished). After you remove fish from the pan squeeze a quarter of lime over each piece of fish.

While I was making the fish Slip was working on some accoutrements, including a salsa of corn, diced tomatoes, diced jalapenos and lime juice (easy peasy). Using an immersion blender I made an avocado crema with one avocado, some lime and lemon juices, and a little hot sauce.

Slip warmed up some corn tortillas in a pan (Amelia vows that corn over flour is the way to go) and then it was time to make tacos! Spread the crema on the bottom of the tortilla, followed by greens (cabbage would be great if you have it on hand), fish, corn and tomato salsa, and hot sauce. Deliciosa!

EDIT: I made these again Saturday night with Slip’s mom and used cornmeal instead of breadcrumbs— major improvement!! I loved it and definitely recommend using cornmeal if you have it on hand. Yum!

I made these burgers for the big birthday dinner. I made them mini just so I could call them sliders. Oh, and they were incredibly delish- bookmarked, remembered, ready to make again. H, Slip’s sister, is vegetarian, dairy, and gluten free. These were perfect!

Garbanzo Sprout Burgers

Recipe Courtesy of I Can’t Eat Anything

• 2 1/2 cups garbanzo beans
• 1 cup alfalfa sprouts
• 1/3 cup cilantro
• 1 small onion, diced
• Grated zest of one lemon
• 1/2 cup flax seed meal (in place of bread crumbs)
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp apple sauce (or 3 eggs)

In a food processor blend together garbanzo beans, salt, and apple sauce.

Transfer garbanzo mix to a larger bowl. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix. Adding in a few whole garbanzo beans will give some more texture to the patties. I would recommend also adding in some crushed garlic.

Heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium heat while mixing the ingredients. Form patties— not too thick or they will remain cool in the middle. Fry until golden brown.

Serve with accompaniments like avocado, more sprouts, other veggies and sauces.

I served our sliders with sprouts, avocado, lime wedges, hot sauce, and Old Bay.

I know these may look or sound kind of weird to some people— and trust me, if it wasn’t good I would just write it off as a side dish I made to appease a vegan friend. But these patties were really, really tasty! I am usually not a cilantro person, but I loved these paired with lime and avocado. I would definitely make them for a party as they are easy to whip up and a crowd-pleaser. Enjoy!

I just found this recipe online and I want to eat it now! Might sound weird to some, but I love love love a good avocado. I will definitely be trying this soon. Recipe from www.theamazingavocado.com

1    cup graham cracker crumbs
1    cup shelled walnuts, coarsely chopped
1    tablespoon sugar
1/2    teaspoon crushed anise seeds
1/4    teaspoon salt
6    tablespoons butter, melted

1    envelope unflavored gelatin
1    lemon
1-1/2    cups skim milk
1/2     cup sugar
1    teaspoon vanilla extract
2    fully ripened Avocados from Mexico, halved, pitted, peeled and diced
1    package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened and cut in pieces

Preheat oven to 350°F. To prepare crust: In bowl or food processor, combine graham cracker crumbs, walnuts, sugar, anise seeds and salt. Add butter; pulse until ingredients are thoroughly combined (will resemble wet sand). Press into bottom of 8-inch spring form pan; bake 15 minutes; cool completely.

To prepare filling: In cup, combine gelatin with 2 tablespoons water; let stand for 5 minutes. Using potato peeler, remove strips of lemon zest (yellow portion only). In small saucepan, combine milk, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest; bring to boil. Add gelatin; simmer until gelatin has completely dissolved, about 1 minute; strain. In food processor, place avocados and cream cheese. Pour hot milk mixture into processor; whirl until very smooth. Pour into pre-baked crust; cover and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours. Remove side of pan. Serve with raspberry sauce, if desired.

Best when served the day of preparation. Any leftover cake should be securely covered with clear plastic wrap and refrigerated.

Preparation and bake time is about 45 minutes. Yields 8 portions.