There is always that one dish that stands out each year for me, and I have felt that this one was it!

I dream of food probably on a nightly basis, and when I woke up that one morning all I could taste was delicious grilled corn on the cob with all the flavors to hit the right spots, or shall I say the taste that has sweet, savory, spicy, sour and a smoky flavor packed all in one satisfactory bite.

I must say, that I love Mexican grilled corn on the cob, even if I didn’t grow up eating it this way, you really learn to love and appreciate certain foods that your surroundings come to offer you.

However, I wanted to bring the taste of the world simultaneously. So I made kinda fusion corn that blends all the flavors beautifully together. This corn has the delicious influence of Mexico, Thailand, and Italy.

I used as a topping: Olive oil based mayonnaise, together with Sriracha sauce, chipotle powder, all mixed with an aromatic zing that zest of lime gives you and of course, citrusy lime juice.

It is a fabulous mix, indeed. Then, I sprinkled corn with grated Parmesan cheese and garnished with Italian flat leaf parsley and added a little more Lime zest. The balance of flavors was simply incredible!

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Grilled Corn on the Cob with Husks

with Mayo-Sriracha Sauce

Course Party Food, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword side dish, grilled

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 6

Author Sandra | Sandra’s Easy Cooking

Ingredients

• 6 Corns  -or use as many as you want
• Water for soaking the corn

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup Olive Oil Mayo read NOTES*
• 1/2 tbsp. Sriracha
• 1/4 tsp. Chipotle powder or chili powder
• Lime zest from 1/2 medium lime
• Lime Juice from 1 lime

Corn Topping:

• Sauce
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Chipotle powder
• Chopped Parsley or Cilantro, or chives/scallions
• Serve with lime wedges

Instructions

1. Preheat well-oiled charcoal or gas grill to medium-high. Use whatever grill you have. I used a charcoal grill. Also, I grease the grate with hickory smoked bacon, instead of oil. It makes a huge difference when you grill. (If you do not eat bacon, use chicken skin or oil).
2. Take few husks off the corn, leaving maybe 2-3 layers. Fill the pot with water/or big enough dish and soak the corn for 15 minutes. This will keep the corn moist enough through the grilling.
3. Make the sauce, by mixing everything together. Cover it, and place in the fridge until ready to be used.
4. Cook corn with husks for 15 minutes, turning every 5-7 minutes, so it cooks/OR steams evenly on parts under the husk. Remove from the grill, peel back the husk and return the corn to mark and lightly char the corn on all sides, turning as needed for 5 more minutes. I like mine chard, so I cooked mine longer.
5. Brush the sauce on the corn. You can dip the whole corn in the cheese, or sprinkle one side and use cheese as needed, as well as the sauce. Garnish with parsley (or cilantro/scallions/chives), little lime zest and serve it with lime veggies, cheese, and sauce.

Recipe Notes

If you do not eat mayo made with eggs, you can try Eggless mayo such as “Just Mayo, ” which I tried and it tastes fantastic, or Nasoya Vegan-Nayonaise (I didn’t try that one though, if you did, please let us know how it tastes). You CAN make this without the husk. I’d boil the corn in salted water just for a minute or two, before placing it on the grill grate. If you don’t have lime, you can certainly use lemons. As I said, you can use cilantro or chives or scallions instead of the parsley. I made more sauce because it is spicy and delicious, and so good to brush more as you’re eating. It stores well in the lidded container and you can keep it in the fridge for a few days. I loved dipping my chicken strips in the sauce, too.

Bibimbab {비빔밥}

This is love recipe. Why Love? Because if you love to cook and willing to saute each vegetable separably than you putting much love into making this meal.

I wish I grow up eating this kind of rice bowls, but I think it’s never too late. Korean cuisine and I just clicked instantly, but hey what not to love, right?!

I know that most of you know about “bibimbap” (bi bim-mixed, bap/bab-rice) but let me say a few more things.

The web is flooded with Bibimbap recipes, but I thought what better way to make very delicious dinner than this veggie and protein packed dish and at the same time present something that is a staple of every Korean household to my family, too.

Bibimbap is an International dish that is listed at #40 on World’s 50 most delicious foods readers’ poll compiled by CNN in 2011, but today my kids will eat something healthy, nutritious and delicious.

The best thing about bibimbap is that you don’t have to keep it “traditionally”, any leftover veggies and meat can be used, and if you are vegetarian than tofu or mushrooms can be substituted for meat.

Most commonly in the Korean households, it’s served in stainless steel bowls, but you may find bibimbap served in dolsot -stone bowls, too.

Bibimbap has several traditional versions, depending what region of S. Korea you are in; with marinated clams, raw yolk on top of bibimbap and cooked against the hot dolsot with sizzling rice, or rice cooked in rich beef broth…

whatever you find in the pot, I am sure that your taste palate will be happy as much as your stomach, oh and the eyes too, because it is colorful and truly feast for the eyes.

But just to add one more thing that the goal in Korean cuisine is to serve a meal with 5 colors (red, yellow, white, black and green), and 5 flavors (hot, sweet, salty, sour and bitter). It is magical cuisine that most of the foodies go crazy over!

With Thanksgiving being over, I am imagining that many of you still have leftovers, so give this recipe a try, and again you do not have to use exact ingredients but Korean Chili Red Bean paste(gochujang) is a must in my opinion and you can find it in Korean or in International markets, so stock up on that because gochujang is amazing.

My ingredient list is quite large but that just tell you how healthy this is. I had many leftover veggies as well as grilled beef, so I just sauteed for less than minute with a drizzle of soy sauce and oil. The recipe was of course success and I got to tell you very delicious, spicy and fulfilling too!

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Korean Mixed Rice Bowl—Bibimbap

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, Korean

Keyword rice, bowl, beef, asian, korean, healthy

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 4

Author Sandra | Sandra’s Easy Cooking

Ingredients

• 1 cup per person Steamed white rice
• Bulgogi recipe below
• 1 Carrot julienned
• 1 cup Bean Sprouts
• 1 cup Spinach
• 5 Shiitake Mushrooms
• 1/2 Cup Kimchi chopped
• 2 Spring Onions
• 1 Cucumber English is similar

Rolled egg omelet:

• 4 eggs
• Dash of Ground Sea Salt
• Oil for greasing the frying pan
• Mix eggs and salt

Garnish:

• 1 Tbs. sesame seeds 1/2 Tbs. Toasted Sesame seeds and 1/2 Tbs. Black Sesame Seeds
• 1 Tbs. Sesame oil
• Dried Seaweed
• Soy sauce to taste
• 1 Tbs. Gochujang paste mix or more per serving.

Gochujang Paste Mix:

• 1 Tbs. Red Chili Bean paste gochujang
• 1 Tbs. Rice vinegar
• 1 Tbs. Soy Sauce low sodium
• 1/2 tsp. Sugar
• 1/2 Tbs. Sesame Oil
• 1/2 Tbs. Toasted Sesame Seeds
• 1 Spring Onions finely chopped

Instructions

Bulgogi (Meat):

1. Bulgogi (bul-fire gogi-meat or grilled marinated meat, you can use ground beef too-30 minute marinate: 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup Sprite or clear sweet soda, 1 tablespoon sugar,1 Asian pear, 1/2 onion, 3 garlic cloves, 2 inches fresh ginger, and sesame oil; seafood, chicken, tofu or even turkey can be substituted for a beef.

Vegetables:

1. Julienne Carrot/s then sauteed for about 30 seconds with sesame oil and 1/2 tsp. Sugar to bring bit more sweetness.
2. Blanch and Drain Bean sprouts, then sauteed in a little sesame oil and seasoned with a splash of soy sauce.
3. Blanch and drain baby Spinach, then sauteed in a little sesame oil and seasoned with a splash of soy sauce. You may use thawed frozen spinach as well, but make sure to squeeze out all the additional moisture before sauteeing.
4. Shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced and sauteed in sesame oil and seasoned with salt. If you are using dry shiitake then soak them for 15 minutes in water; then slice and saute for a minute (or you might use whatever is available to you)
5. Zucchini, julienned and saute for 1 minute in Sesame oil with a bit of salt
6. Cabbage Kimchi, chopped and sauteed for less than minute in sesame oil (or you can use it cold without sauteing)
7. Spring Onions, cut Lengthwise and sauteed with sesame oil and dash of salt for 30 seconds.
8. Cucumber (English is similar), cut the same length as other vegetables, No sauteing. Cucumber gives you a wonderful flavor.

Rolled egg omelet:

1. Break 4 eggs into the bowl and mix it well. Grease the pan and pour it in the hot frying pan half of the egg mixture.
2. Wait until the top is almost dry. Flip and roll. You can put in the middle of omelet dry seaweed before you flip and roll if you desire. Cut into equal strips for bibimbap. Other option you can fry sunny side up egg and add to the bibimbap; one to two eggs per person.

Gochujang Paste Mix:

1. Add Gochujang paste mix, fried egg if you desire, dried seaweed, more sesame seeds, drizzle bit of sesame oil and soy sauce, and mix it all up to code each veggie, rice, and meat with delicious gochujang mix just before eating. Personally, for myself I added about 1/2 cup of kimchi juice and more gochujang, it was that much more delicious but if you don’t like too spicy keep it as it is.

Assemble:

1. Place a cup of rice into the bowl, the start adding each ingredient next to each other. Assembling it so the bowl looks pretty and colorful.
2. Lastly, add gochujang sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil and mix it all up to marry each ingredient, so it is very well mixed and combined before eating.

Recipe Notes

• All veggies that are noted to be sauteed should be sauteed separably, for less than a minute, just to loosen up a bit and bring more color or to add one more layer of flavor. Use sesame seed oil or any oil on hand if you desire, but I think that sesame seed oil gives a very unique flavor.
• Also always season it with a drizzle of soy sauce, or sea salt and pepper. If you are serving to other people, I would recommend putting everything separately on a tray so they can add what they would like in their bibimbap, and how much Red Chili Paste mix they want because some people cannot tolerate spicy food.
• It looks like a lot of sesame oil in the recipe but actually, you are using just a few drops of oil each time when you sauteing vegetables. With any leftover Bibimbap if not mixed together you can make Kimbap (Gim or Kim mean Seaweed and Bap-Rice), which are similar or the same as Japanese Maki(Makizushi or Nori-Maki–rolled seaweed).
• You can use any veggies that you prefer. This is just what my family likes and what I use the most. I love doing seasonal bibimbap bowls, as well as a simple bowl with only a couple of protein and veggies on top, fish bowl, chicken even vegetarian. It is really something that you may personalize to your own liking. 

Last week I woke up with a thought of the fresh vegetables with slightly creamy spaghetti. Well, in particular, these delicious Green Vegetable Summer Spaghetti.

I know all the foodies have dreams about food… we can smell it in our dreams and sometimes even taste.

After our typical mid-morning breakfast, we went grocery shopping for ingredients that I needed for my green vegetable summer spaghetti recipe. Even though my husband had to go to work that night, I had a pleasure enjoying it all by myself.

While I was watching the sunset from my dining room going down behind the highest hill. It seemed not that far away looking with my naked eyes, each bite of this pasta was amazingly delicious.

The kids were, of course, having way too much fun at the pool with my in-laws, so I had an evening all to myself. It is nice from time to time just to have that kind of calm dinners to enjoy and collect your thoughts.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PASTA RECIPES

Some girls or women love to go and have a massage, some maybe pedicures, or go dancing, but I just love to have peaceful evenings without anybody disturbing me. I feel grateful that I can have those moments every once in a while.

For my dinner idea, I had just what I was dreaming about. Green Vegetable Summer Spaghetti. Plain and simple; It is meatless, which we all need every once in a while, and with all the greens it is still full of nutrition.

I felt like it was comfortably hugging my stomach. It is probably the most basic dinner that you can make in a very short period of time.

While I was putting all the veggies in the pan to stir-fry, the aroma was just incredibly pleasant, making me even more hungry.

I make this often, and usually without sauce. This way is quicker, and of course, sometimes I really do not want to eat dairy or heavy tomato-based sauce.

I really love the combo of cheese and butter. So I ended up adding just a bit of unsalted butter and shaved parm cheese to satisfy my taste buds.

It just gave my sexy pasta enough of oomph to go from ordinary to extraordinary.

I did a photo-shoot and then my dinner finally made it to the table. Let me show you how to do it so you can enjoy it too. I really hope you guys like this pasta much we enjoy it.

YOU can check one my favorites: Spaghetti Aglio e olio

If you try Green Vegetable Summer Spaghetti or any other recipe from my blog please tag on on Instagram. @sandraseasycooking using hashtags #sandraseasycooking. Thank you!!!

Yield: Serves 6

Green Vegetable Summer Spaghetti

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Green Vegetable Summer Spaghetti i a simple meal; It is meatless, which we all need every once in a while, and with all the greens it is still full of nutrition.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound Spaghetti (1 pack/ I used gluten-free)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 Garlic cloves smashed and minced
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup fresh or frozen broccoli, florets
• 2 cups spinach, fresh or about 8 oz frozen
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 6 mushrooms, sliced
• Sprinkle of crushed red pepper
• Pinch of teaspoon salt + for the pasta water
• Pinch of Ground Black Pepper
• Shaved parm cheese to taste
• Add Herbs of your choice

Instructions

1. Boil salted Water and drop the pasta in; while pasta is cooking start preparing vegetables. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water after cooking.
2. Wash all the vegetables first and smash and mince the garlic, slice green onions, cut broccoli florets separating it from the root, you may slice root as well to minimise food waste, and lastly slice mushrooms. You may use frozen broccoli and spinach. The measurements are approximate; you may add more or less vegetables. IF you are using frozen peas, as they freeze them at the peak of the season. So just place them in the bowl with water to slightly defrost.
3. Add the oil and butter in the saute pan and start with stir frying garlic and green onions for a 20 to 30 seconds on medium temperature. Add all the other vegetables and just toss and stir fry until it is cooked through. We do not want mashed vegetables so saute for about 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Season the vegetables with salt, pepper, sprinkle of red crushed pepper and toss in bit of dry herbs of you wish such as thyme or oregano. I used Za'atar before and it is quite tasty.
5. Once the pasta is done, drain it, reserving 1/4 cup of water. Drop in the pan with vegetables, add that reserved 1/4 cup of pasta water in the saute pan and toss to coat everything.
6. Add some shaved parm cheese and serve immediately!

Notes

If you are VEGAN or do not eat dairy, then just add everything with dairy free butter, You may use egg-free pasta, or gluten-free, whatever your diet requires.

You can place it in the fridge in airtight container. Use it within 2 to 3 days. 

Measuring pasta is not all that hard, hold it in between the index finger and the thumb making a circle around the pasta. For each adult consider a portion about the size of a nickel. For the larger appetite makes a portion of either 2 nickels or a quarter. On the other hand, for my boys about 1/4 of the pack or more. We just love pasta.

Did you make this recipe?

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