Roasted Corn & Bean Salsa

I love summer. First of all, working in the schools as an occupational therapist I get the summer off (minus a few weeks of summer school). Woo hoo! Second, Michigan feels like it has about 8 months of winter so summer is a nice break from cold. And snow. And cold. And snow. You get the point. If you don't understand, I envy you because you must live somewhere warm where everyone thinks winter is a myth that us Northerners make up. Well, winter is real, folks. It's real and it's horrible. Unless you like snow up to your head. Then it's wonderful. Third, and most of all, summer has the most wonderful options for beautiful fruits, veggies, and herbs!

I love going to the grocery store knowing that most of the food in the produce section is actually in season and not shipped from across the world. Actually, most of it is probably still shipped across the world BUT I try to gravitate towards the stands that say "Grown in Michigan." It makes me feel better...even if it's a lie.

Right now, corn on the cob is in abundance. A big perk of buying produce is season is that you can find it for cheap. Look for what's on sale. Chances are there's a reason it's on sale. Like as in they have 5 bajillion ears of corn so if you don't buy it the corn will go to waste. It's very wrong to let something as delicious as fresh corn go to waste. So, I decided to use some of the sweet summer corn for a gorgeous and scrumptious corn and bean salsa!

I actually used corn that I cut of the cob with a knife for this recipe. Novel concept, I know. BUT if you *really* didn't have fresh corn (I understand not everyone lives in corn country) you can use frozen or drained canned corn. To cut the corn off the cob I stood the uncooked, husked corn up on it's edge and simply cut down the side as close as I could to the cob with a serrated knife. I usually do this in a bowl to keep the kernels all together. But if you want to make a mess, that's your decision. I support you. I will not come and clean your house after you make the mess though, so choose wisely.

This salsa is so fresh and very versatile. I ate mine with tortilla chips but it would also be delicious on a salad, in tacos or a quesadilla, on top of rice, or just straight up. Try them all. I dare you. Comment and let me know how you ate your roasted corn and bean salsa!

*Side note. We went out to eat the next day. Because that's what my family does when we're together apparently. Anyways, we got corn and bean salsa/salad at a Tex Mex restaurant and my family told me that mine was better. WIN! If you want to be a winner make this salsa.

ROASTED CORN & BEAN SALSA

prep time: 15-20 minutes
makes approximately 6 cups of salsa

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup corn
• 1 cup shelled edamame
• 1- 15 oz. can of black beans, drained
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• 1 cup tomato, seeds removed and chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed and minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• juice from 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Saute the corn and edamame on medium heat with a pinch of salt and pepper until the corn turns a brighter yellow and the corn and edamame start to slightly brown. Let cool.
2. Mix corn and edamame mixture with remaining ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
   
   *I found that letting the salsa sit for a couple of hours or even overnight before serving lets the flavors mix nicely!*

NOTES

I cut the kernels from 2 uncooked ears of corn, which ended up being approximately 1 cup of corn. If you do this, make sure you saute the corn as listed in step 1 because raw corn would not be yummy! For the edamame, I used frozen. If you find fresh that's great but the frozen works wonderfully! I used about half of a medium red onion to get a half a cup chopped. I removed the seeds and chopped up 3 Roma tomatoes to get about 1 cup chopped. I like to remove the seeds to make the overall salsa less runny. Roma tomatoes are nice because they have a lot of meat to them!