We took Stanley to the dog beach in Huntington Beach this weekend. This was our second visit since Zach's parents visited back in August. Stanley loves making us chase him all over the beach as he gallops from one end of the beach to the other. This is basically our constant view of him:
We revisited the Park Bench Cafe which was really great again! We even ordered Stanley a little bowl of chicken off the "dog menu".
After lunch, we took a walk through the park trail, spotting this creepy crawler:
We are basically enjoying the perfect Southern California weather while we still can! That being said, I love fall vegetables almost as much as I love summer fruits. Pumpkin, squash, broccoli, onions and sweet corn are all such comfort foods to me. Zach and I bought some unbelievably large and flavorful heirloom tomatoes from the Ojai farmer's market along with some sage goat cheese and a sourdough/multigrain baguette. I decided to make that panzanella to use up these delicious ingredients, but I needed something to go with it. I love the combo of corn and tomatoes so I started looking for a recipe for corn cakes or corn fritters.
On our way out of Ojai, there was a bookstore that had a bin of "free books". I scooped up 3 free weight watcher cookbooks (they were the only cookbooks in the bin!). On the way I flipped through and found a corn cake recipe. Score! I know some of you will turn your noses to something I made from the Weight Watcher Cookbook, but these little guys were good. I ended up having to add a lot of extra oil to the pan because my nonstick pan was not really behaving. However, if you use a great non-stick pan, you should be able to get by just fine without adding extra oil.
Rustic Corn Fritters to Welcome the Fall Season
(recipe from "The Weight Watcher's Cookbook 2003" - makes 8 corn cakes/4 servings)
Cooking spray (Use some cooking oil if you need it)
2 C fresh corn kernels (recipe calls for thawed frozen kernels so that is just fine)
1 C chopped zucchini
1/2 C chopped red or green bell pepper (I did not have one so I added extra zucchini and onions to make up for it)
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 C finely chopped green onion
1/4 C all purpose flour
3/4 C yellow cornmeal
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground red pepper (I used hot paprika since I did not have red pepper)
1/3 C low fat mayo
1/4 C fresh cilantro
1/4 C fat free milk
2 tbsp lime juice
3 large egg whites
The recipe comes with a dreamy cumin sauce, but I went a completely different direction because I did not have cumin! I basically subbed 1/2 tsp of the hot paprika for the cumin and chili powder and left out the red pepper in the recipe below:
Creamy Cumin Sauce:
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
1 (8oz) carton reduced fat sour cream (I used regular)
Serve 2 corn cakes with 1/4 C sauce over them. You can garnish with lime wedges or green onions. This went just perfectly with the panzanella. It was also a nice satisfying vegetarian meal.
NOTE: In case you are curious, one serving of the corn cakes (2 cakes) with the sauce is 4 weight watchers points, 372 calories, 9 grams of fat.
1 comment:
I think Stanley looks good from any angle! Since I have a corn fiend living in my midst, these will be a good thing to try - although he would never go for the whole "no meat meal" idea.
As for the delicious Panzanella, you have more than two fans of this in Orlando. CG tells me she has made this several times for her and hubby. I linked to you on my post today since you take such great food pictures and I don't.
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