Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

Perfect Pairing: Grilled dinner

Last summer I went to a food and wine festival at Lincoln Park in Chicago.  Chris gave me the tickets for my birthday and I was SO excited.  The morning of the festival I woke up feeling gnarly and not at all like going to a food festival, but I persevered because that is my mecca.  I saw demos from some of my favorite chefs like Rick Bayless and Stephanie Izard and tried lots of good food and wine.  Fortunately, I felt better as the day went on and we had a great time!

One of the best bites of food I had all day was a truffled Mexican street corn.  Holy corn Batman, it was delicious.  I may have gone back for seconds… and thirds.  It was a small piece of sweet corn rolled in some glorious mayonnaise mixture then topped with parmesan and shaved truffles.  I just can’t even describe it. 

Last summer my cousin’s wife made an extraordinarily good Mexican Street Corn dip for our annual Lake House Chef’s Challenge.  It was a serious crowd pleaser.  So, ever since the dip and the festival corn I have been wanting to try a variation on Mexican street corn.

Enter Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad!  Grilled corn and grilled scallions are mixed with pasta in a tangy sauce and then combined with cilantro, parmesan and avocado.  It is really tasty. 

If you have not grilled your scallions you are missing out.  It totally changes the flavor.  They are fantastic on tacos.

This salad is so not the typical summer pasta salad and would be a hit at any party.  There is some prep involved so I think it is paired best with a simple grilled entrée like hamburgers or brats. 

I wonder what else you can do with Mexican street corn.  Goals!

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Simple Fruit Dip

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Avocado and Strawberry Toast with Feta and Honey

Three years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Salted Peanut Bars

Four years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Fruit Pizza Cookies

Tweet

Caesar Pesto Pasta Salad with Grilled Vegetables

Perfect Pairing: Yogurt based Caesar dressing

Pasta salads can be so bad.  Rarely, rarely do I like pasta salads from restaurants or grocery store delis.  They all have the same odd taste and are just not worth the calories.  There ARE good pasta salads out there though!  I don’t want to pat myself on the back, but this one is really good.  I think I just did it anyway.

Grape tomatoes, whole button mushrooms, and sweet onions are grilled then tossed with pasta, arugula, and a super simple dressing.

The dressing is made with store-bought Caesar dressing.  I used this yogurt variety so it was a little lower in calories and fat.  The dressing is whisked with pesto and fresh lemon juice.  If you happen to have an abundance of homemade pesto stocked in your freezer (I’m so jealous) use that, but feel free to use store-bought pesto here.

We ate this while it was still slightly warm.  YUM.  It was also great leftover chilled.  It would be fantastic with grilled chicken or steak for a full meal. 

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Avocado and Strawberry Toast with Feta and Honey

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Thai Peanut Pasta Salad

Three years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Grapefruit Margaritas

Tweet

Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole

Perfect Pairing: New Year’s Resolution Diet

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season!  Mine was absolutely wonderful.  It was my first Christmas with my fiancé and his family, so that made it extra special.  

We loved spending time with all of our adorable nieces and nephews.  They make Christmas so fun!

We also had lots of good food!  No surprise there.  One of our family traditions is a meal of homemade chicken and noodles (my dad and I make the noodles) over mashed potatoes.  Starch on starch.  Then a dessert of cookies.  Why not?  Every meal on Christmas break seems to have dessert.

I always look forward to getting back into my healthy routine after the new year.  This year it is especially important since I have a wedding to prepare for!  Yikes!

Each year I post a healthy New Year’s resolution recipe.  

2012 - Berries n’ Cream

2013 - Chicken Vegetable Barley Soup

2014 - Sweet Sesame Green Beans

This year it is a delicious Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole.  I adore spaghetti squash.  It is such a great pasta alternative that is full of fiber and nutrients.  Here it is combined with my favorite pizza toppings, sausage (I used turkey), green pepper, onion, and mushrooms.  

Use your favorite spaghetti sauce.  I like Mario Batali’s spicy arrabbiata sauce.

I baked mine in two dishes so I could put one directly in the freezer for a healthy meal that is ready to go when I am short on time.

You can feel so good about this dish.  Health food.

Tweet

Mustard Pork Chops

Perfect Pairing:  Sweet Potato Gnocchi and Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries and Pecans

When I ran across Nigella Lawson’s Mustard Pork Chops recipe I knew I needed to make it pronto.  It is a great cold weather dish with few ingredients that comes together in minutes.  

I made just a few changes to the original recipe.  I used three pork chops instead of two, and seasoned them with salt and pepper before searing in the pan.  Before deglazing the pan I added one sliced onion and cooked until soft and caramelized, then added the sauce ingredients (hard cider, mustard, and a touch of cream).  I bumped up the amounts of mustard and cider to make a little more sauce.

Nigella recommended serving the chops with gnocchi.  Of course you could keep the prep super simple and use store-bought gnocchi, or you could make your own!  I had always wanted to make gnocchi so this seemed like the perfect time.  I used this sweet potato gnocchi recipe from Richard Blais (Top Chef and Food Network fame).  I followed the gnocchi prep only and used the pork chop sauce to top it off.  I will definitely make these again and use the full recipe with the brown butter sauce because that sounds fantastic. 

They ended up being pretty easy to make and kind of fun!  I found that a bench scraper was the best tool for the job.

To round out the meal I roasted brussels sprouts (using this method, minus the vinegar) and tossed in handfuls of pecans and dried cranberries for the last few minutes in the oven.  Pretty and yummy.

It was a pretty fantastic meal!

Tweet

Mint and Spinach Pesto Chicken Pasta

 Perfect Pairing:  The best Pandora station for cooking, dining, and chilling 

One of my favorite summer shows is So You Think You Can Dance.  I don’t think I have missed an episode in 11 seasons.  Granted, I probably fast forward through 50% of it (the judges), but I don’t miss a dance.  I even watch my favorites a few times before it is deleted from my DVR.  I used to find a lot of new music on the show, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in recent years for some reason.  There are only a couple songs on repeat on my phone from this season, Like Real People Do by Hozier and Valerie by Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse. 

Valerie is not a new song, but I had a renewed love for it when I heard it on the show.  It put me in the mood for Amy Winehouse so I tried out her Pandora station.  I was obsessed.  It is a great mix of Amy, Adele, Ray Charles, Norah Jones, Temptations, Ben E. King and many others.  It is just the ticket for cooking, eating, and just hanging out with friends because it is upbeat but not exhausting.  It is my new go-to.

Want to try out that new station while cooking?  Make Mint and Spinach Pesto Chicken Pasta!  You won’t be sorry.  It is super fresh and a nice change from standard pesto.  It is also a great dish to make if you have a thriving mint plant.

The pesto is a mix of fresh mint and spinach (you could also use a mix of spinach and arugula), fresh parmesan, and pine nuts.  The pesto is tossed with pasta and sweet peas and then topped with grilled chicken.  Simple and delicious.

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Chorizo and Potato Frittata

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing:  Southwest Salad

Tweet

Spring Roll Salad

Perfect Pairing:  Mandolin

 

I have been lucky enough to tag along with my parents to Cabo over the last few years.  That trip is really something to look forward to when you live in Chiberia.  Especially this year!  We take it easy on vacation and spend a lot of time enjoying the views, reading, swimming, fishing (dad only), walking on the beach, trying new restaurants, meeting new friends, kayaking, working out, etc.  It is exactly what vacation should be! 

 

The first few times we went we barely left our resort for some reason.  Then in the last couple of years we have been all about trying new restaurants.  Cabo has some fabulous fine dining venues and charming holes in the wall with great food.  If you have an upcoming trip to Cabo and want some restaurant recommendations, shoot me an email at PerfectingThePairingBlog@gmail.com.  We keep notes on our favorites.

We love to sit outside and have the chef prepare the fish my dad caught that day.  This is just one of the charming spots that we go to every year.  Mom and I fell in love with the hanging basket lights that are all over Cabo, and actually brought some back with us this year.

 

We usually stick around the resort for lunch.  They had a new item on the menu this year called a Spring Roll Salad.  Basically it is a deconstructed spring roll in salad form served over lettuce.  It was the perfect poolside lunch.  Let’s be honest, anything with this view tastes pretty great.

 

I was determined to recreate the salad once I came home, and I think I came pretty close!

 

Thin rice noodles are combined with carrots, peppers, edamame, and fresh herbs (great time to use the herbs you are growing!), and then the whole thing is tossed in a light soy and sesame dressing.  I chose to not serve mine over lettuce, but you certainly could.  It is also great topped with grilled shrimp or chicken.

 

If you have a mandolin, this is the time to break it out!  I used it to slice strips of carrots which I then julienned.  I also used it for the pepper strips on a slightly wider setting.

 

I am excited to serve this at my next summer BBQ!  Such a change from the traditional summer fare.

 

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Garlic and Herb Cheese Crostini with Summer Tomato Sauce
 

Tweet

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Perfect Pairing:  Rainy day

 

Tuna noodle casserole typically does not fall under the gourmet category.  It may not be fancy but it is some seriously good comfort food.

A few weeks ago after church my boyfriend and I were going to swing by the grocery store to pick up something for lunch.  It was a cold and rainy day, which is the perfect setup for comfort food and movies.  I asked him what sounded good and gave him a rundown of possible menu options and he chose pasta.  So for the rest of the ride to the store I came up with a tuna noodle casserole recipe in my head.

 

Friends…. This is good eats.  It was the perfect thing to enjoy on a rainy day (which there have been WAY too many of recently in Chicago) and it was really cheap!  The sauce is a simple white sauce that is enhanced with Dijon mustard, sour cream, and two kinds of cheese.  No canned soups here!  I swapped out the traditional potato chip topping for Ritz crackers since I had them on hand.

 

Plan on lots of leftovers!  I sent some home with my boyfriend who ended up eating it for the next four out of five meals.  I think it is safe to say he liked it.
 

 

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing:  Greek Turkey Burgers

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Risotto with Corn, Roasted Peppers, and Pepper Jack Cheese

Tweet