Summer
Deconstructed Corn Tacos
- Serves 2, with leftover harissa
Author Notes
I struggled with taco night as a kid. My tacos never stayed together after one bite and I almost always ended up eating with my fork...or my hands, oops. These tacos cut to the chase - no tortilla! Instead, cabbage provides a healthy crunch. Harissa, a middle eastern condiment, is amazing with the corn and avocado. Roasting corn is one of my favorite preparations - so easy and it imparts an amazing smoky flavor. Adapted from Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food. —Mari Miyachi
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Harissa
-
5
dried ancho chilies
-
1
red bell pepper
-
4
garlic cloves
-
1/4 cup
olive oil
-
1 teaspoon
cumin
-
1 teaspoon
coriander
-
1 teaspoon
chili powder
-
salt, to taste
- Deconstructed Corn Tacos
-
2
ears corn, husked
-
2 tablespoons
olive oil
-
1
white onion, minced
-
2
cloves garlic, minced
-
1
lime
-
1 teaspoon
chili powder
-
1/4 cup
parsley or cilantro, chopped
-
1/2
cabbage, chopped
-
2
avocados, sliced
-
2
chicken breasts (optional)
-
1/4 cup
harissa
-
1/4 cup
feta (optional)
Directions
- Harissa
- In an oven turned onto the highest temperature, toast the ancho chiles until fragrant, 5-7 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn. Remove the seeds and stem, and put them in a small bowl filled with boiling water. Let this soak for about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile roast the bell pepper over a flame until the skin is blistered. Make sure the skin is nearly all blistered – I made the mistake of only partially doing my own, which made my job lots harder in the end. Put the blistered bell pepper in a paper bag and let this sit for 5 minutes.
- Take that pepper and discard the stem, seeds, and skin. In a food processor, puree the chilis, pepper, garlic, olive oil and spices.
- Deconstructed Corn Tacos
- Roast the ears of corn over a flame, charring them. Note that the corn will get a little violent and there will be loud popping noises – don’t be alarmed! All very normal.
- Once roasted, shave off the kernels.
- In a saute pan over medium heat, add half the olive oil and onion. Cook the onion for around 10 minutes, until just beginning to brown. Add the garlic, for about 1 minute, then the corn, for about 5 minutes. Season with lime juice, salt, and chili powder to taste.
- Take corn mixture off the heat and stir in chopped herbs.
- (Optional) While the corn is cooking, season the chicken with salt, pepper, and chili powder. Over medium high heat, add the remaining olive oil and cook the chicken, about 4 minutes on each side.
- Serve chicken, corn and harissa with cabbage, avocados and feta.
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