The other day I was wandering through Whole Foods waiting for a salad inspiration to hit me (sometimes I have a plan for my “salad of the week”…other times I let my shopping trip make the decision for me).
There was fresh summer corn on sale…what could I do with that?! I instantly thought of the roasted corn grits at Zea, not sure why…I hardly ever eat there! (I also thought about this sweet corn ice cream I’ve been eying…need to make that ASAP!). Both ideas were vetoed…I was going for something a little healthier : )
But it did lead me to thinking about Zea’s pepper jelly vinaigrette which I also love. How perfect? A salad topped with grilled corn and pepper jelly vinaigrette! Inspiration! I found an organic brand of pepper jelly, grabbed 2 ears of corn, got everything else on my list, and headed home.
A quick Google search lead me to realize that John Besh has a recipe for pepper jelly vinaigrette in My New Orleans, which I have. This recipe is loosely based on his…although I used less oil and swapped his red wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar (Zea’s version has AC vinegar).
The salad pictured has grilled corn, slow roasted tomatoes (minus the Italian seasoning), yellow bell pepper, romaine, chicken and feta. I added shredded carrots and green onions on a different day.
It’s summer in a bowl! Make it soon though, before the sweet corn is gone!
Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette
adapted from John Besh’s My New Orleans*
makes 1 cup
1/4 cup pepper jelly, microwaved at 10 second intervals until melted
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (red wine would be fine)
1/2 cup oil (I used half EVOO and half sunflower**)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Add all ingredients to a jar and shake to combine.
Per serving (2 tbsp) – 145 calories, 13.5 g fat (1.4 g saturated), 6 g carbohydrates, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein (exchanges: 2.5 fats, 1/2 sugar/other carbohydrate)
* JB also added 1 teaspoon of sambal chile paste, which would make it spicier…I omitted it for 2 reasons…1) I don’t like things too spicy and 2) I didn’t have any
** sunflower oil is what I use for my neutral flavor oil (canola would be another option); it would be just as good with all olive or all neutral too
This looks FABULOUS, Blair! Never had anything like this before... but I cannot wait to give it a try on top of a salad! What do you recommend putting it on?
ReplyDeleteIts so good! I'm sure it would be really good on a spinach salad, but I did romaine, grilled corn, slow roasted tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, shredded carrots, chicken and feta.
DeleteVery nice, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete