GREAT SIDE DISH

Son No. 2's sweet-heart of a girlfriend gave me Ina Garten's book,

Back to Basics

for Christmas. As you can imagine, it's chock full of great recipes. She told me her Mom likes to make the Confetti Corn recipe in the book quite often.

I decided to try it, and it's been a big hit every time we have it.

I've even made it with green beans and received good reviews. Of course, Ina uses fresh corn cut right from the cob, but until corn is in season here in my part of the country, I've used frozen and it works very, very well.

About the the recipe, Ina writes:

"When the corn is available at Jim Pike's farm stand, I have to rush right over and take some home. I usually just cut if off the cob and saute it in butter with lots of salt and pepper, but I thought it would be fun to add more vegetables and herbs from the stand and the result was this colorful and flavorful dish that goes with anything from grilled hot dogs to grilled steak."

The Ingredients

2 tbsp good olive oil

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1 small orange bell pepper, 1/2 inch diced

2 tbsp unsalted butter

kernels cut from 5 ears yellow or white corn (4 cups)

1-1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp julienned fresh basil, minced fresh chives and/or minced fresh parsley

Cooking Instructions

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Stir in the bell pepper and saute for 2 more minutes.

Add the butter to the pan and allow it to melt. Over medium heat, add the corn, sale, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, until the corn just losses its starchiness. Season to taste, gently stir in the basil or other green herbs and serve hot.

As you can see, it's not at all a complicated recipe and almost a

"duh . . . why didn't I think of this"

kind of dish, but it's really something a little more special than just a bowl or ear of corn.

Oh, and I've even added the leftovers the next morning to scrambled eggs and it's really yummy!

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