Corn

Here’s a summer harvest dish that I absolutely love. Fresh corn kernels are a must if you want to get the full impact of the fresh flavors. This is great with veggie burgers, soy hot dogs, and tortilla specialties.

Here are those handy refried beans again, in a different guise. They help hold this tortilla specialty together.

Layer on the Southwestern flavors in this playful pizza variation. Serve with a tossed salad and stone-ground tortilla chips. This tastes best with sharp cheddar or Monterey Jack, but use reduced-fat cheddar if you prefer.

You can make this exceptionally hearty chili even after an exhausting day at work. All of the ingredients get tossed into the pot at once, and while the chili simmers, you can make a simple salad. Serve the meal with stone-ground tortilla chips.

Here’s a hearty stew made entirely of convenient ingredients (unless you opt to cook the beans from scratch). Serve with simple grain dishes or tortilla specialties that don’t include beans, such as Mushroom and Bell Pepper Quesadillas or Soft Tacos (page 172).

This is terrific as an appetizer, snack, or accompaniment to a simple grain dish. I like using stone-ground tortilla chips, which are generally available from natural foods stores and specialty markets. But do explore the varieties available in supermarkets as well. Look for all-natural ingredients and read the nutrition labels, as they vary greatly in fat content. Not more than 3 grams of fat per 1-ounce serving is ideal. Baked tortilla chips can be a good choice as well.

Two revered ancient grains in one simple, tasty dish.

Salsa is an easy way to dress up pasta, resulting in an offbeat, festive dish.

A lovely cold dish to be enjoyed in late summer, this is a great vehicle for the season’s ripe tomatoes. This is delicious with Creamy Pinto Bean Puree (page 16) for a satisfying summer meal.

While this is good with either grain suggested, I prefer making it with barley. Its texture contrasted with that of the corn is quite pleasant. Like corn relish, this is a sturdy picnic dish and is also a good accompaniment to grilled or roasted vegetables.

Like slaws, this salad is nifty served with sandwiches and veggie burgers. It’s a great choice for taking on picnics as well.

Black beans and corn team up to create a substantial salad that’s a great potluck or party dish.

Cabbage and corn kernels are a salad marriage made in heaven.

With a generous portion of tofu, this soup is perfect to team with a light noodle dish.

This soup is simple but labor intensive. If you want to immerse yourself in the summery, sensory experience of peeling fresh tomatoes and scraping kernels off of corn cobs, you won’t regret it. This is an appealing accompaniment to a late summer meal of grilled vegetables and veggie burgers.

Boiling corn leaches out all the flavor and natural sweetness. Once you try corn this way, you will never look back.

Corn pudding is deliciously simple to put together.

Beach clambakes are a blast. They make me think of Annette Funicello, who I still find very attractive. Anyway … Lobsters, clams, and corn all steamed in seaweed: For me, it’s the perfect summer party. Even if you can’t get to the beach, you can still pull off a great clambake in your own backyard. Be sure to ask your fish guy for some seaweed. Lobsters come in crates packed with this stuff, so he should be able to give you some. Parboil the lobsters to kill them first before putting them on the grill. Alternatively, you can just split the bodies down the middle to kill them and skip the boiling step.

Not only do the colors sparkle in this salad, but the flavors do, too. Roasting fresh corn on the cob produces irresistibly sweet little morsels. This is wonderful with roasted fresh salmon.

This updated classic soup of Mexico is easier to make when you let the convection oven do the cooking. Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice to each bowl when you serve it.