Years ago, I worked for a wonderful company, based Springfield, IL. I remember the first time I flew into the home office and all I saw were corn fields. Spectacular color from above and tall and majestic from the road. (…and yes guys, I remembered never to cut through a corn field. I did not want to suffocate!)

Living in Upstate New York, we have our share of corn too, albeit smaller in field size, but still fresh corn. What can we do with it? Let’s try:

Simple Corn and Black Bean Salsa:

This can be used as is, as a salsa for chips and guacamole or as a base for Ceviche. This can also be used as a topping for grilled fish, especially salmon if seasoned with a bit of heat.

What you need:

• 1-2 tomatoes diced
• 2-3 ears of corn ready to grill
• 1 cup canned black beans, drained, and rinsed
• ½ of a red onion chopped
• ½ of lime freshly squeezed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Chile pepper or cut up a Serrano Pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• chopped fresh cilantro to taste

Options:  add a ½ cup chopped pepper or choice and chopped avocado. Yum.

What to do:

Fire up the grill and toss the ears of corn with a bit of olive oil and species to taste. I love a little Frank’s Hot Sauce or chili peppers. Now grill until slightly charred. Cool and remove kernels from the cobs.

Basically, just mix all the ingredients above, cover and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes. The longer the better. Now use as you see fit!

This is a great option as well. Don’t let the Weight Watchers label fool you. This is super delicious and tasty.

Mexican Street Corn: 2 points from Weight Watchers (Here is their recipe in its entirety)

Ingredients

• 4 medium corn, on the cob, husked, silk removed
• 4 spray(s) cooking spray
• ¹/₄ cup(s) light mayonnaise
• ¹/₄ cup(s) cilantro chopped
• 2 Tbsp Plain fat free Greek yogurt
• ¹/₂ tsp lime zest, finely grated
• 1 tsp fresh lime juice
• ¹/₂ tsp ancho chili powder
• ¹/₄ tsp minced garlic
• 4 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese, or queso cotija (see Note below)

Instructions

Preheat grill to medium. Lightly coat corn with cooking spray; grill corn until tender and lightly charred, turning occasionally, about 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine mayonnaise, cilantro, yogurt, lime zest, lime juice, chili powder and garlic in a small bowl. Brush grilled corn with mayonnaise mixture, then sprinkle each ear with 1 Tbsp cheese. Sprinkle with additional ancho chili powder and serve with lime wedges, if desired.

Notes: We used crumbled feta in this recipe since it’s easy to find but finely shredded queso cotija is what’s traditionally used. Feel free to swap some in but take note that the SmartPoints value per serving increases to 3.

Enjoy the foods our local farms and farm families offer. Support a farmer. They feed the world!