Quinoa with Charred Corn, Scallions, Browned Butter & Mint
The pox had descended on our house. Although Mike’s over it, he’s still got the gout, and W needs to have a roll of toilet paper fashioned into a necklace for easy nose access, and I’m even less coherent than usual. We all have coughs that won’t quit. I’ve either been sneezing or been right on the verge of for approximately 36 hours. It’s still been a full weekend though, with my parents (finally!) moving into their new house and all that goes along with a move of that magnitude (ie. by someone who has been out of college for at least 3 years), so there has been moving, packing and unpacking, many hours trying to resurrect our own kitchen into something usable and enough leftover work to make today feel like a weekday anyway.
We went to Mike’s mom’s house for dinner – Chinese food bought from Safeway and microwaved – during which we discussed the fact that the third floor bathroom at the Bay downtown has really gone downhill in recent years, and that none of the bathrooms are anywhere near as nice as the old Woodward’s (Woolworth’s?) bathroom, which was beautiful, wasn’t it? Until they hired all those contractors (?) and then boy did it ever go downhill too. She put away a sandwich baggie full of her spare elastic bands (saved from her newspapers) to give to us, so that’s something.
I made this at some point over the weekend, having found it on a torn-out magazine page I stuck on the fridge before corn was in season. Now that corn season is almost over, I finally got around to making it. It originated here, but I did my own thing – boosted flavour by charring the corn in my cast iron skillet (why settle for boiling it?), knocked down the mint a lot, and figured while melting the butter, why not give it an extra minute to turn a nutty brown? My sister said it tasted like wedding cake. W threw it up. I think it would have been great with crumbled feta.
I just noticed that I used my old Woodward’s bowl. Eerie.
Quinoa with Charred Corn, Scallions, Browned Butter & Mint
AuthorJulie
Cook the quinoa in a pot of boiling water for 15 minutes; drain in a fine sieve and dump back into the pot while still steaming. Cover with a tea towel, then the lid and leave it to steam (this will make fluffy quinoa). Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of oil in a heavy skillet set over medium-high heat and cook the corn for about 10 minutes, until starting to turn golden. Set aside to cool.
Melt the butter in the skillet (preferably the one the corn was just cooked in) and cook it for an extra few minutes, until it turns golden and smells nutty. Stir in the lemon zest and juice, honey and some salt and pepper. Try not to eat it all with your finger.
When everything has cooled down, mix the quinoa, corn, green onions and mint. Drizzle with the warm dressing and toss to coat. Serve immediately.
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the quinoa in a pot of boiling water for 15 minutes; drain in a fine sieve and dump back into the pot while still steaming. Cover with a tea towel, then the lid and leave it to steam (this will make fluffy quinoa). Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of oil in a heavy skillet set over medium-high heat and cook the corn for about 10 minutes, until starting to turn golden. Set aside to cool.
Melt the butter in the skillet (preferably the one the corn was just cooked in) and cook it for an extra few minutes, until it turns golden and smells nutty. Stir in the lemon zest and juice, honey and some salt and pepper. Try not to eat it all with your finger.
When everything has cooled down, mix the quinoa, corn, green onions and mint. Drizzle with the warm dressing and toss to coat. Serve immediately.
I love the family stories you tell. Very, very funny!
For Sharon who wrote: I’m pretty sure it’s against some bloggy ethic to say you made MAPLE COTTON CANDY and not give us a methos, Miss Manon!! You know, to just drop it in there apres peas.
If methos means method, it’s with a cotton candy machine I just purchased about a month ago….pour maple sugar and voila….maple cotton candy 🙂
I promise to send some pics to Julie…maybe then she could share with you guys…but I will not be making some for another 2 weeks….
Thanks,
MFO
Julie you are quite the writer sister!
You are a very funny girl 🙂
Hope you guys get better soon. Over here, everyone has had or has a cold, now I’m getting a sinus headache….but have no time since…I got to get ready for our open house!
Lov your blog girl 🙂
Woodwards! The Bay! I come here primarily for the recipes, but the memories of things Canadian are just as good a reason for me to visit.
Hope you and the family feel better soon. And thanks for giving me something else to do with that mint I stupidly planted in the backyard. (It’s taking over two planters and I fear it may make a leap into the actual ground if we let it…)
((hugs)) hope you & the family feel better soon!
(hugz)
I hope you all feel well soon.
I was so impressed to see your name on the Dinner: A Love Story blogroll.
Woot! Woot!
love your recollection of woodward’s… my grandma took me there for lunch all the time when i was a kid… i miss that… i miss her… love the bowl!!!
hope you’re feeling better by saturday!
Ah Woodward’s AND Woolworth’s…part of my early childhood. “Dollar-forty-nine Day…”
Thanks for the memories!
I think I remember Woodward’s having very nice clean white-tiled bathrooms with really tall frosted windows on one side…anybody else recall that (in Edmonton) in the 50-60s?
Thanks for inspiring me with new and interesting recipes and ingredients, and for amusing me with your true-to-life adventures!
And so sorry to hear of the plantar fasciitis – I have been enduring it for several months now- ugh!- but my dorsal night brace (on the front of the leg) has really helped, (along with some rather pricey therapy!) Hope you get some relief!
You are one heck of a wonderwoman, Julie. Inspired to cook AND blog AND tend to your sick family. Brava! And thanks for a great sounding quinoa recipe. I just bought Quinoa 365 and this could easily be featured in the next edition.
Best.
Oh, gosh, feel better soon. Nothing like starting school to bring home a WHOOP-can of nasties (ug).
We adored charred corn with browned butter, feta and mint solo, last summer. I can only imagine quinoa improves the whole thing. Maybe a few black beans for good measure…
Elastics … hilarious. You’re a funny lady. Hope the family is better soon.