Greetings, Mystic Meows!

Im living for all the new seasonal fruits and veggies that are finally making their appearances at the local markets! Cherries are here, but not for long, so my advice is to stock up on them and freeze them! 🍒🍒🍒But this blog isn’t about cherries. (Soon, though…) Corn is looking beautiful right now and I took advantage of a sale and grabbed a few ears.

I already had some shrimp in the freezer, half of a perfectly ripe mango, and as always, a variety of vegetables. I just love the word Succotash! It’s like something you use to cast a spell or invoke magic like speaking the words abracadabra and then seeing what happens next! 😝✨

Succotash consists of corn kernels, and shell beans, like Lima beans, for example. You can add peppers, onions, herbs, olive oil and something acidic like your favorite vinegar or citrus juice. Sugar Snap Peas were looking pretty sexy at the market so I bought some of those and love eating them raw as well as cooked. Since I was grilling the shrimp for this recipe, I decided to grill the corn as well.

I used that half a mango I mentioned, puréed it in my Nutribullet along with a quarter of a habanero pepper, a splash of sweet chili sauce, and some lime juice. I peeled, cleaned, and deveined the shrimp, marinated them in a bit of minced garlic, salt and pepper, skewered them, and grilled them off on my trusty cast iron grill, which has been my favorite new kitchen toy since buying it several months ago.

I basted the shrimp with the mango habanero sauce, which acted like a spicy, yet fruity bbq sauce. It was lovely. If the grill is hot enough, the shrimp will cook rather quickly, while still getting those glorious charred grill marks on them. The sugar from the mango sauce also helps since the natural sugars caramelize nicely with the heat from the grill.

Here’s the recipe I used for the Succotash. This made about 4 cups after adding the other vegetables. As long as you’re using corn as the base, you can add whatever the flippity flap you want to it in terms of veggies and herbs. 😛 I really like this version, though. The combo of raw and cooked vegetables provides crunchiness and flavor contrasts, and is quite healthy on its own since it’s fairly simple and the flavors are clean and pure. It makes a great side dish, is picnic friendly, or you can enjoy it as a salad topper like I did here. 😉✨

Sweet Corn Succotash

2 ears of corn, shucked, cleaned and washed

2 pieces of green onion, sliced thin

1 cup of cherry or grape tomatoes, washed and sliced in half

1 cup of sliced sugar snap peas

1/2 cup of red bell pepper, small dice

1/4 cup of chopped parsley

1/2 cup of olive oil

The juice from half a lime

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the corn cobs in half, and grill the ears until they’re nice and marked all around. If you don’t have a cast iron grill at home, just carefully cut the kernels off of the cobs and sauté in a pan with a bit of oil over high heat to quickly cook the kernels and pan toast them, making sure they get some color, but being careful not to burn them. Set aside to cool down a bit. If grilling, once they’re charred a bit and marked, cut the kernels off and again, set aside.

2. In a large bowl, add the tomatoes, green onions, sugar snap peas, red bell peppers, parsley and the corn, and mix together well. Add the olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper, stir and adjust the seasoning. Leave covered at room temp for about 10 minutes. The tomatoes will begin to macerate and create a nice vinaigrette with the olive oil and lime juice, so it’s important to taste it again before serving.

I served the shrimp and the Succotash over some baby lettuces and it was really nice, light, and satisfying. Since I left the lettuce leaves whole, I wound up making little lettuce wraps with the shrimp and corn. It just kind of morphed into a different way of eating it, and I loved every bite!

And there you have it, dear reader! Another mystic meal to be enjoyed again and again over the coming months, and as I said, you can change it up by using whatever you see on your shopping travels. Green beans, heirloom tomatoes, basil… it’s up to you! Have fun with it! Until we eat again… Happy cooking!

Xo, Nikki 💕✨🌽🍤🌶

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