Warm corn and courgette salad with a touch of spice

Attentive readers will remember my tale of badmouthing Delia on Christmas Eve last year, only to find that a parcel containing Delia's Happy Christmas had been lurking on the windowsill (the quite frankly inadequate subsitute for under the tree) the whole time. Well, it seems that this is a family trait. Just before my birthday, my Mum started slagging off Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasina Miers, of wonderful Wahaca fame. The recipes have got cheddar in, and feta and mozzarella in, you see. These are not Mexican cheeses. Where's the authenticity, the real Mexican ingredients, was the cry. 

And so what do I get for my birthday? Not one, but two copies of Mexican Food Made Simple, one provided by Mr 'Splorer (who heard all this) and one from two beloved chums (who hadn't). Luckily, I would much rather have a recipe book that contains recipes that I can actually make at home, rather than one that maintains that if you're REALLY desperate, you could probably just about substitute something you can buy here, but you're missing the whole point of the cuisine and really you shouldn't bother. And luckily, so would little sis, who bagged herself a free copy. 

And, if this recipe is anything to go by, this is a fantastic book. This salad was delicious - and so easy. You just cook up sweetcorn and a courgette with an onion, some chilli and garlic, and some allspice, then top with fresh coriander and mint. The mint, I must say, is a total stroke of genius - it really gives it an extra burst of fresh flavour.

A note on variations: the courgette is an optional addition to the original recipe, so feel free to leave it out. Also, I didn't have any allspice, but a quick google search suggested a mix of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. This worked very well (I was a bit worried it was going to make it seem too desserty but not so).

Warm corn and courgette salad with a touch of spice 

adapted from Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasina Miers

Serves 3 (or makes 2 dinners and 1 wonderful packed lunch)

3 corn on the cobs

1 courgette, diced into small pieces

slug of olive oil and knob of butter

1 onion, finely chopped 

1 chilli, finely chopped 

2 cloves of garlic, chopped 

a few pinches of allspice (or a nutmeg/cinnamon/clove combo)

juice of 1 lime

handful of chopped coriander and mint leaves 

Get your corn off the cob. Thomasina says to do this by popping it in a bowl and scraping a knife down along the cob at a 45 degree angle. I was confused by that 45 degree thing and just held it upright on a chopping board and chopped the corn off. The corn proceeded to go everywhere, so I'd go with the bowl in the future! 

Heat the oil and butter in a pan on a medium heat and when it's hot, pop in the onion, corn, courgette and chilli. Cook until the onion is translucent (at least 5 mins), then add the garlic, allspice, and some salt pepper. Turn up the heat and cook for another 5-10 mins. Thomasina says that the corn should caramelize, which sounds lovely, but didn't happen for me! 

Pour over the lime juice and scatter with the herbs.

I served this with avocado, refried beans (another great Thomasina recipe), corn tortillas, cheddar and sour cream. Yum!

And if you want to see how the professionals do it, here's a video of Thomasina herself showing how to make this.