I am a morning person. I love the quiet, calm of the air and the feeling of anticipation for the day. The dog and I take long walks while I sort my thoughts into a neat organization of the day. I sit outside, drink coffee, and relish in the fact that I am one of the few souls awake and enjoying this perfect time of day.
For the longest time I really thought that whenever I was in a relationship, I would wants someone who was similar to me, who also enjoyed the morning. Only later did I realize that I didn't want that at all, I needed that peace and quiet to myself and if I didn't get it, my days would feel slightly skewed. I'm very selfish when it comes to that time.
Last week I felt so busy that I wasn't sure I wanted to go on vacation (I know, silly thought.) I felt overwhelmed and pushed myself hard to get things done before I left. A voice in my head was telling me to stay home and use the week to get more done. Luckily I can't pass up Colorado.
As I sit here, enjoying the cool air and the sun rising over the mountains, I am reminded that every so often I need to step away and take a deep breathe of fresh mountain morning air.
These corn cakes make for a great vegetarian lunch or dinner. The batter will be slightly messy but just do your best to pat them into a a disc. The cake will be more stable once you cook one side. If goat cheese isn't your thing, queso fresco would also be great.
PrintCorn Cilantro Cakes with Roasted Zucchini Salsa
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Ingredients
Zucchini Salsa
- 2 cups ¼" cubed zucchini
- ½ small red onion, diced
- 1 jalapeño, minced
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ¼ cup cilantro, minced
- ¼ cup goat cheese
Corn Cakes
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ small red onion, finely diced
- 2 ears sweet corn
- ⅓-⅔ cup whole wheat pastry flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup cilantro
- 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400˚.
- Toss cubed zucchini with onion, jalapeño, olive oil, and salt. Roast until zucchini has turned slightly brown, 20-25 minutes. Remove and toss with lime juice and cilantro.
- Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add in onions and cook until translucent, 4-5 minutes. Remove corn from cob and stir in to onions, continuing to cook until corn becomes soft, 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and place mixture in a bowl. Add ⅓ cup pastry flour, baking powder, egg, honey, lime juice, salt, and cilantro; stir until well combine. Add more flour until mixture pulls together and can form patties.
- Divide batter in to 5-6 patties. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Pat in to 1" thick round disc. Fry on each side for 5-6 minutes. Each side should be browned.
- To serve, place on a platter and spoon salsa on top. Sprinkle goat cheese over and serve.
Libby from Lemony Thyme says
These look so wonderfully fresh. You give me such great ways to use the summer bounty! Thanks Ella.
Jasmine Davis says
Yum!! I'm bookmarking these to make for my corn obsessed boyfriend! And I totally agree, alone time in the mornings is the best!
Gina @ Running to the Kitchen says
These are gorgeous! I made corn fritters last week that I ended up having to pour egg whites on top of because of how difficult it was to keep them together. Didn't look nearly as pretty as these, but still tasted good 🙂 I adore these pictures.
Kathryn says
I can completely relate. My favourite time of the week is Saturday morning when I wake up early and have a few hours to myself while my boyfriend is still asleep. Those hours are essential for my sanity.
Wonderful corn cakes too, they look so pretty and vibrant.
Eileen says
I totally agree that time to oneself is crucial in a relationship! When we were on vacation a few weeks ago, I spent nearly every morning wandering around by myself--total bliss. Those corn cakes look beautiful--a perfect lunch!
Bev @ Bev Cooks says
I am SUCH a morning person too. I need my morning coffee, the stillness of the air, and um, about 5,000 of these corn cakes, man.
sara forte says
so gorgeous, erin! I can't wait to try these!
Brianna Soloski says
These sound awesome. I wonder if you could use quinoa or rice to firm them up a little bit.
naturallyella says
I've thought about that too- if you try it, let me know!
Mammajox4 says
I wasn't sure at first since I'm not a big fan of lime or cilantro but I made these tonight and yum! They were so good. Thank you for the recipe.
naturallyella says
So glad you liked it!
Sneh Roy | Cook Republic says
I am a morning person too! These look delightful .. so fresh 🙂
Brenna says
These look wonderful! I'm a new follower via Pinterest. I really look forward to seeing more of your recipes. Thanks for sharing.
[email protected] says
what a gorgeous summer meal!
Mckay says
I just made this for me and my wife and it was fantastic!!
Jeanine says
Love this, so summery - gorgeous colors!
Rachel Barrett says
Hi, I made this tonight and it is DELICIOUS. I have a few questions though. I don't have pastry flour and stupidly assumed it was similar to cake flour. That's what I used. It was still great, but I wondered how different it would have been. My other question is I didn't remove the jalepeno seeds, so there is quite a bit of heat (yum). I wondered if you typically remove the seeds.
Thanks! I'm so glad I found this blog!
naturallyella says
Actually pastry flour is similar to cake flour- they are both lighter in texture. I just use wheat pastry because it still has a few nutrients left. Also, I tend to leave seeds in unless I'm cooking for someone who doesn't like heat (because I like a bit of heat!) Thanks for asking!
sheena says
I have been catching up on some reading of your blog, and I just love it. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. And these sound so yummy right now:)
Sonja/A Couple Cooks says
Gorgeous! These look wonderful. For some reason we always tend to mess up corn cakes when we've tried them in the past - looking forward to trying these!
Sharde Walter says
whats the point in pre heating the oven?
Lacey says
I made this recipe for myself a week or 2 ago & it was AMAZING! I'm making it for the whole family tonight because it was THAT GOOD! I can't wait to try out more of your recipes! Oh & I recommended it to women in my 21 Day Fix group as well.
sabrina says
Gonna try these this weekend!! Can you tell me how many cups 2 ears of corn would be approximately? i'm guessing about 1 cup?
Lauren says
I made these tonight, but subbed pastry flour with about 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour + 1/4 tsp xanthan gum. Held together awesome, for any gluten-free experimentalists! Thanks, as always, for your beautiful site and creative ideas!
Piggy says
I am not overly keen on corn but love the sad kidney bean that does not get featured much!
I use kidney beans and, often for the black bean recipes as it is a change and puts lots of different main meals in the freezer. Salad or vegetables, rice, pasta and dinner is fairly instant!
Lovely recipes to play with. Thank you.
★★★★★
Rebecca says
Another phenomenal recipe! It was such a delicious dinner! Thanks for sharing your culinary creativity with us.
★★★★
Keaton says
Okay. I know you get comments all the time and I can only imagine how hard it must be to keep up with them all, but you truly have THE most amazing food blog. Thank you times a million for all the hard work you but in to this site to keep it fresh and inventive, yet simple and relatable. I hope you pat your self on the back everyday!!! You deserve it.