, How to Video, Step by step

Sweetcorn salsa

A versatile, flavorsome, zingy salsa, easy to make, and great with flatbreads or as an accompaniment to a BBQ.

Mark Stower, Director of Food and Service.

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 5 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Step 1

Remove the corn husks and silky strings and boil the corn for approx. 5 minutes or until tender. Run under cold water to cool and drain. Cut the corn kernels off the cob and put into a large bowl.
Step 2

Cut the cucumber into thin slices, then strips, then into chunks, add to the bowl.
Step 3

Cut the plum tomatoes in half lengthways, then each half into 3’s, add to the bowl.
Step 4

Take the salad onion and cut in half lengthways, slice thinly, add to the bowl.
Step 5

Zest the lime, add to the bowl. Cut the lime in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl.
Step 6

Now add the diced chilli, crushed garlic, chopped coriander and olive oil. Mix well to combine all ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 7

Serve with flatbreads, natural yoghurt and as an extra touch maybe some sweetcorn ribs roasted through the oven.

We eat sweetcorn as a vegetable, but it is really a starchy carbohydrate – a form of maize – and a staple used for centuries by some populations, such as in Central and South America, and also used as animal feed.
Maize is believed to have been domesticated in Mexico about 10,000 years ago.
The sweetcorn that we eat on the cob, or which is frozen or canned, has been bred to be more tender and sweeter than traditional maize.
The cobs are the young ears of the plant and the corn kernels – the individual grains – are characteristically sweet because they are higher in sugars than the mature plant. Once the cobs are harvested, the sugars are converted to starch and older, less fresh, cobs will have tougher starchy kernels and will require longer cooking times.
Sweet corn is a good source of nutrition – providing a range of B vitamins, essential minerals including magnesium, and some dietary fibre.
This salsa recipe would add about one of your 5 A Day to this meal, why not add an extra portion by including half an avocado with your flatbread?

DR JULIET GREY, COMPANY NUTRITIONIST