Zucchini, Corn, and Bean Sauté

Fresh tomatoes brighten this vegan meatless Monday delight

Fresh local produce! It’s super abundant in our markets right now. So we’re using it any way we can.

In this easy sauté, for instance. Squash, sweet corn, and beans are a traditional American combo, dating back long before European settlement. We added tomatoes for extra color and zing.

Because it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that zing.

Mexican Street Corn (Esquites) Salad

This sheet pan version features jalapeño and red bell pepper for extra flavor

Did someone say “fresh sweet corn”? It’s in season around here, so let’s enjoy it to the max!

No need to wrestle with a slippery cob, though. For this dish, we cut off the kernels and roast them, then add a lively mayo- and cheese-based dressing.

In Mexico, the dish is known as esquites, and it’s very popular. Once you taste it, you’ll know why.

Mushroom, Corn, and White Bean Sauté

This vegetarian dish makes a great main for Meatless Monday, or a terrific side dish

Looking for a simple, tasty vegetarian dish? We’ve got you covered.

This Mushroom, Corn, and White Bean Sauté has terrific flavor, is quick to prepare, and can be made largely from pantry staples. If you prefer not to go veggie, it also works well as a side dish with grilled or roasted meat or poultry.

Once you make this, we’re betting you’ll want to extend Meatless Monday to other days of the week – just so you can serve it again.

Southwest-Style Chicken (or Turkey) Chowder

A quick and delicious way to use leftover cooked poultry

Have leftover cooked chicken or turkey? Need a warming, comforting dish to chase away the chill? Try this chowder. It’s a spicy mix of ingredients that you may already have on hand. Perfect pantry cooking!

Best thing about this dish is it’s ready in under an hour, start to finish. And you can freeze leftovers, so you’ll have another meal ready to go in minutes.

Winter never tasted so good.

Sweet Corn Sautéed in Brown Butter

Add fresh basil for an extra taste of summer sunshine

Sweet corn is in season around here – and we’re ready for one of summer’s glory foods.

You can eat it right off the cob, of course. Slathered with butter, it’s the ultimate summer comfort food. But it can be a bit messy.

So let’s take those ingredients and combine them into a plated dish. But brown the butter first, for extra flavor. Then add fresh basil for an extra hit of warm-weather goodness.

The result? A dish worthy of a summer dinner party. When we can have those again.

Mexican Cucumber, Tomato, and Bean Salad

Serve this vegan delight as a starter or a main

The weather is warming up in our part of the world. So? Salad days! 

This classic combo of cucumbers and tomatoes is one of our faves. We’ve added black beans and sweet corn, then infused the vinaigrette with lime, cumin, and coriander.

The result? A terrific Mexican-themed salad. You can serve this as a first course, but we prefer to make it a main. Add some crusty bread or tortillas, and you’ll be happy chompers.

Taco Soup with Chicken

Traditional flavor in a quick dish = easy Taco Tuesday

Tacos. What’s not to like? Well, they can be messy to eat, OK. But we have a fix for that.

Taco Soup gives you all the flavor with none of the greasy lap blobs. It’s an easy one-pot dish that’s perfect for weeknight dinner. But it’s still jazzy enough for weekends.

Of course, this dish is a natural for your Cinco de Mayo celebration next week. And May 5th just happens to fall on a Tuesday this year.

We think that’s a sign.

Curried Corn and Shishito Soup

Tangy and tasty, but not too hot

Shishito peppers – with their bright flavor and subtle heat – can’t help standing out in this trio.

But corn and curry are no wallflowers – they harmonize beautifully and bring out the best in their pepper pal.

So curry up. Your dinner guests are waiting.

Pumpkin and Pork Chili

Perfect for Halloween. And you can freeze the leftovers for Thanksgiving eve!

It’s pumpkin season in our part of the world. Chili season too.

So, hey, pumpkin chili. Pumpkin adds unique flavor (not to mention a rich, creamy texture), and it plays well with pork.

Sounds like a trick, we know. But it’s a real treat.

Corn, Zucchini, and Bean Soup

Serve this Mexican-style soup hot or room temperature

It’s peak corn and zucchini in our part of the world. So why not combine them?

This soup is a perfect first course – or you can even make a meal out of it. And it tastes equally good hot or at room temperature. Which also makes it perfect for summer weather.

So no need to sweat it in the kitchen.

Sautéed Corn with Chilies and Bacon

This quick dish is equally tasty made with fresh or frozen corn

Fresh, local sweet corn—it’s one of the glories of mid-summer. But corn also freezes exceptionally well, and what you find in the frozen-food aisle usually has been processed within hours of picking. That means it may have more flavor than “fresh” corn that’s actually days old when it hits your grocer’s produce department.

Which comes in handy when making a dish like this sautéed corn. It’s wonderful with fresh corn, but you won’t even notice the difference if you substitute frozen.

With the main ingredient so readily available year round, this tasty dish might become a menu staple: Have it during summer to celebrate fresh corn. And have it again in winter, to remind you that sunny days will soon be here again.

Celery, Corn, and Bacon Chowder

Celery takes the lead role in this hearty dish

We all have celery in the fridge, right? Usually a wilted, half-used head buried deep in the vegetable bin. 

Most of us wouldn’t even think of using celery as a main ingredient. But I say it’s about time this shy veggie got some love.

Our Celery, Corn, and Bacon Chowder highlights the flavor of celery—in a warming comfort food. And with the cold, snowy weather we’ve been having in most of the US lately, I need all the warming comfort I can get.

Quick Corn Relish

Jalapeño adds zip to this tangy side dish

Have a hankering for some old-fashioned corn relish? But forgot to preserve any fresh corn when it was in season? No problem. We’ve got you covered with this easy refrigerator corn relish.

This recipe uses frozen corn, which is generally high quality. It’s also available year round, so you can make this relish whenever the mood strikes. The entire process takes only a few minutes. And the flavor improves over time as the ingredients mingle, so you can mix it up days (or even weeks) before you plan to serve it.

The perfect make-ahead recipe for a big dinner, wouldn’t you say? It’s especially good when you have lots of other last-minute dishes to juggle. Like Thanksgiving, for instance.

Winter Squash, Corn, and Bacon Chowder

Perfect for those who think they don’t like winter squash

Chowder? Isn’t that about seafood?

Well, yes, often it is. But “chowder” is really just a generic name for a type of hearty stew—usually one that’s cream- or milk-based, and typically thickened with potatoes or crackers.

So why not a chowder built around winter squash? Squash has great flavor and is abundant in grocery stores throughout the US this time of year. Mix in some corn and bacon, and you’ve got a dish with magical flavor.

Dished up in quantity, this chowder makes a great main course for weekday dining. Ladled out by the cupful, it’s a starter you’d be proud to serve to company. No clams needed.

Sweet Potato Chili with Black Beans

Sweet Potatoes Make Great Vegetarian Chili

Cold weather has returned here in St. Louis  — so naturally I’m craving a hearty dish.

When the temps turn chilly, I turn to chili.  But with sweet potatoes?  Sounds weird, I know.  They work brilliantly though, as I discovered.

Most of us know that the naturally sweet flavor of sweet potatoes is enhanced by even more sweetness.  Think Thanksgiving candied sweet potatoes with marshmallows.

Less well known is the sweet potato’s affinity for spicy flavors, particularly dried chilies.  To see what I mean, try adding a dusting of ground cayenne pepper to the top of those candied sweet potatoes.  It’s an amazing combination — and a revelation.

Sweet potato chili perfectly showcases the marriage of spicy and sweet.  The first bite will make your tongue smile.

The second bite?  You’ll probably decide this is the best vegetarian chili you’ve ever eaten.

Sweet Potato Soup with Chilies and Corn

Sweet potatoes are a power food.  They are low in fat and sodium, naturally sweet-flavored, and have tons of nutrients (especially vitamins A and C and calcium).  But they’re not just good for you.  They also taste good — really good.

Sweet potatoes combine well with a wide variety of spices and flavorings.  And they can be prepared almost as many ways as “standard” potatoes (although the two are completely different plants and aren’t even in the same botanical family).

Yet most of us eat sweet potatoes only once a year (at Thanksgiving) and in one way (candied, usually with marshmallows).

That’s how it was for a long time in the Kitchen Riffs household.  We knew how delicious these tubers could be, but somehow we just never got around to preparing them on a regular basis.

Sweet potatoes invariably made for some of our tastiest Thanksgiving leftovers.  And every year we would ask ourselves why we didn’t have them more often.  Then the holidays would pass, and we would forget about sweet potatoes.

Until a few years ago, when we decided to break out of the box.

Transgressing Against Tradition

We struck a blow against conformity!  We forged our own path!  In short, we started eating sweet potatoes during months that didn’t begin with the letter “N.”

And our eyes were opened to a really versatile vegetable with marvelous flavor.

One of the tastiest dishes we discovered was sweet potato soup.