Crispy Corn Cakes with Fresh Tomato Salsa
Sweet corn is perhaps my favorite vegetable and crispy is perhaps my favorite texture. In this recipe, I combine my loves for corn and crisp, tieing them together with some greens and fresh tomato salsa. It's summer on a platter!
I adapted this recipe from Spoon Fork Bacon's Crispy Corn Cakes. To give the cakes a little more structure and stability, I increased the number of eggs and amount of flour from to the original recipes. I also subbed one red onion for shallots and green onions to make the recipe a little simpler.
Then, to make these corn cakes a more substantial dish, I decided to serve them over greens with some salsa on top. Since the corn cakes are pan-fried, these raw veggies really round out the flavors and freshen up the dish. The result is crispy, crunchy, fresh and lively!
Let me know what you think of the recipe and don't forget to follow the sustainability tips below!
Time: 20 minutes
Makes: about
Ingredients
6 ears of corn
1/2 large or 1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
3 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or a few turns if using fresh cracked
Vegetable oil for shallow frying
1/2 batch Super Easy Salsa, or your pico de gallo of choice
1 bunch of leafy greens
Methods
If you are making the salsa from scratch, make it first, and set it aside in the refrigerator. For the corn cakes, use a sharp knife to cut the corn kernels off of their cobs and mince the onion and garlic. In a large bowl, stir together the corn kernels, onion, garlic and eggs. Then, add the flour to the bowl and stir until combined.
Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Use enough oil to thoroughly coat the bottom of the skillet, pooling slightly. Scoop about 1/3 cup-fulls of the corn mixture into the skillet and let fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Then, flip and fry for a few more minutes on the other side. Transfer fried corn cakes to a cooling rack while you fry the rest of the mixture.
Serve hot off the presses over a handful of greens, with salsa scattered generously on top. Dig in!
Sustainability Tips
Veggies: Make this salad when all the produce is in season (pst! that's summer!). Doing this will make it easier to find local and organic produce. Buying organically and locally cuts down on pesticide contamination and can help you get to know your local food producers.
Eggs: Local eggs are really easy to find if you look for them. Buying locally means your eggs won't have to travel as far, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy use.