Grilled Corn with Chipotle Butter

This recipe has a great balance of sweet, spicy and tangy zip from the lime juice. Our sweet corn great all by itself but you can do some interesting and very tasty things with butter. If you are not familiar with how to roast the corn, see below.

Ingredients:

6-12 ears of Petersen's sweet corn husked.
1 stick butter
1-2 Petersen's chipotle peppers minced (pour boiling water over them and let sit 15 minutes)
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sea salt or mineral salt such a pink salt
Lime wedges

Directions:

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add chipotles minced, fresh lime juice and salt. Reduce heat and cook 1 minute to mix flavors.

Brush fresh corn with the chipotle butter mixture. Cover and refrigerate if needed.

Heat up barbecue. Grill corn until tender and blackened a bit, turn frequently. This should take 5-7 minutes. Serve corn with lime wedges. Drizzle lime juice from wedges on corn just before eating.

Kick it up:

1. Cover liberally with fresh ground pepper
2. Salt to taste
3. Sprinkle with a dash of cayenne pepper (careful this is hot)
4. Make your own fresh butter with a little cream (yum)
5. 
   

A Simple Fresh Salsa Recipe

A salsa kit contains all the vegetables that it takes to make a great salsa. Once the tomatoes start we offer this weekly. It can vary a little from week to week early in the season, don't worry about the exact proportions, about anything works. The kit typically contains the following:

• Tomatoes
• Bell Peppers
• Jalapeno
• Sweet Onions
• Tomatillo
• Garlic
• Cilantro
• Salt and Lime to Taste (not included)

We suggest you add salt and lime, but we don't grow those so they aren't included.

It would typically be about twice the cost to gather up all the ingredients separately so this is a pretty good deal. Makes 1.5 quarts of salsa.

A Simple Fresh Salsa Recipe

Instructions to assembly your salsa. It is easiest to use a food processor, but you can make salsa with just a sharp knife.

Chop up the garlic, cilantro and jalapeno first (if you want it hotter, leave the seeds in, otherwise remove the seeds). Add bell peppers, tomatillo and sweet onions and pulse the food process several times to chop. Cut tomatoes into quarters and pulse again to chop. If you want chunky only pulse a couple of times. If you want a smoother salsa, pulse a few more times.

Enjoy!

Kick it Up:

• Add some of Petersen's sweet corn, cut kernels off the ear (a great way to use up leftovers)
• Add black beans
• Add chipotles
• Add more Jalapenos
• Double the recipe size with your own tomatoes or buy some extra

Cilantro Recipes - Easy Guacamole

Easy Guacamole breaks with the theme of mostly local ingredients. In the tomato off season we often "dip" into avocados. So let me recommend that you purchase your avocados at Peoples Food Coop. They will be organic and the Coop is a local business.

Ingredients

2 ripe avocados (PF Coop)
1/3 sweet onion, minced (1/2 cup) (Petersen's) Use scallions until sweet onions are available
1-2 chipotle peppers (Petersen's)
3 tablespoons baby cilantro (Petersen's)
1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly grated black pepper to taste
Optional: 2 sun dried tomatoes (rehydrate by 15 minutes in hot water, drain), or 1 fresh Roma tomato

Directions:

- Avocado, remove seed and peel. Mash in a bowl. Leaved chunky.
- Add chopped onions, cilantro, lime/lemon, salt, pepper and mix or mash.
- Experiment with the right amount of chipotle peppers, can also use Jalapeno or Serrano in season
- Cover Guac with plastic wrap until serving to prevent oxidation from air, refrigerate
- Fresh tomatoes should be added before serving, dried tomatoes can be added at preparation and will be best if allowed to sit an hour or two before serving.

Kick it Up:

- Add some hot salsa
- Add sour cream, or Greek yogurt
- Add black garlic (when available)
- Add cottage cheese
- Add grated pepper jack
- Add goat cheese (market vendors)

Cilantro Recipes - Simple Rice and Lime

Simple Cilantro, Lime and Rice. It has rained enough this spring that I think we could grow rice in some of the flooded fields.  But until then get your rice at the local People Food Coop.

Ingredients:

- 6 cups just cooked rice, hot
- 1 cup baby cilantro leaves (Petersen's)
- 2-3 cloves of garlic (or 1 tablespoon garlic powder)
- small sweet onion (Petersen's)
- table spoon lime juice
- Sea Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

- While the rice is cooking, finely chop or put in the food processor, all ingredients
- While the rice is very hot combine with the rest of the ingredients
- Let rest for 5-10 minutes

Kick It Up:

- Add 1 chipotle pepper, seeded
- Add your favorite curry
- Add chicken broth to the cooking rice
- Use wild rice or mix 1/2 wild rice. Note wild rice takes a little longer to cook.

Cilantro Recipes - Mexican Pesto

In honor of our first week of baby cut cilantro leaves fresh from the garden and abundant cilantro transplants for those who want to grow their own.

Cilantro is our herb of the week and we are featuring some of our favorite recipes.

Mexican Pesto

Normally pesto is made from Basil, but cilantro makes an excellent green pesto in south of the border style.

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup pepitas, hulled pumpkin seeds (you can also use walnuts or pine nuts)
- 1/2 bag of baby cilantro (Petersen's)
- 2 to 4 cloves of garlic or a tablespoon of garlic powder, one shallot can also be used (Petersen's)
- 1 cipotle pepper, seeded (reconstitute pepper by steeping in hot water for 15 minutes, drain)
   You can also use a fresh jalapeno or serrano when they are in season. (Petersen's)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons oliv oil
- Optional: 1/4 cup grated goat cheese, or Parmesan cheese (various market vendors)

Put nuts or seed in a food processor or blender; process until coarsely chopped (pulse). Add cilantro, garlic, chipotle, salt and oil. Process until smooth, at cheese (optional).  Add to meat, orzo pasta, rice or enjoy with your favorite bread as a bruschette.