Confetti Corn

Confetti CornConfetti Corn

I’m kinda obsessed with corn at the moment…I think I have had corn with dinner three times this past week. It’s so good right now.

By far my favorite is corn on the cob, but sometimes you gotta branch out and do something different. I have posted my Corn Pie before, and I highly recommend you try that now, when the local corn is like sugar.

There are many good corn salads, but I love this corn side dish from the Barefoot Contessa that my sister made the other night. (I think I had four servings.) I definitely want to try it using a poblano pepper instead of a bell pepper, or maybe even a jalapeño—I would swap some green onion or cilantro for the basil in that case.

Whatever you do, serve Confetti Corn alongside a juicy rib eye for a satisfying summer meal.

Confetti Corn
Adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, on Food Network.
Serves 6

Ingredients
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 small orange bell pepper, 1/2-inch diced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Kernels cut from 5 ears yellow or white corn (4 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil

Directions
In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium. Then add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in the pepper and sauté for and additional two minutes.

Still over medium heat melt the butter into the pan, then add the corn, salt and pepper.

Stir occasionally for about 5 minutes, or until the corn is just cooked. Season the dish to taste with additional salt and pepper if needed, then gently stir in the herbs.

Serve hot.

Variations
For a slightly spicy dish, switch out the orange bell pepper with an equal weight of poblano pepper. Rather than basil, use fresh, chopped cilantro. Additional chopped, fresh green onion would be delicious, too.

Or keep the bell pepper, and add jalapeño pepper to taste. Again, cilantro and green onion would replace the basil.

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