Sweet Corn and Summer Squash Tacos

Corn and summer squash taco, open-faced

This dish somehow wound up being all green and yellow, from the yellow squash, corn, scallions and cilantro, right down to the side I served it with. I had some zebra tomatoes and avocado, which I simply just chopped up and tossed with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. It was a total accident, but maybe not. Even the tortilla was corn. I am a big proponent of using corn off the cob; just chop off a bottom for a flat surface, place the cob on said flat bottom, and run your chef's knife down the length of the cob. You can cook it quickly—really, you're just warming those little kernels up a little bit—and then it's ready to go. This came together fast one night after the kids had karate, those nights during the week when I need to get something together fast because it's a. later than our usual dinnertime and b. they are hungry and tired and therefore c. super impatient.

A few notes about the ingredients here. I used corn from Wegmans (haven't seen any at the farmers' market yet, though there are rumors it's coming), along with scallions, squash and cilantro from the farmers' market. I used a tiny knob of cheddar I had left; when I started cooking, I thought I had bought some lambsquarters cheese (a soft, chevre-like cheese) from Valley Milkhouse at the farmers' market, but unfortunately I hadn't. One final note: this veggie dish goes vegan quickly with a change of the cooking fat to vegan butter, coconut oil or olive oil, and by eliminating the cheese altogether.

Summer Corn and Squash Tacos

Ingredients

Serving size: 2 tacos Serves: About 4

• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 4 ears of corn, shucked and cut off the cob
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced
• 1 small yellow squash or zucchini, about 8-10 inches in length
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• Goat, feta, cheddar or other cheese you can either easily grate or crumble
• Salt and pepper as you go

Directions

1. Remove the corn from the cob by turning it vertically and running the blade along the sides of each ear of corn. Remove any pieces of cornsilk that didn't make it off.
2. In a pan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the corn, stir to coat with the butter and then add a pinch of kosher salt and pepper, and the cumin.
3. Add in the scallions and chopped squash and cook for 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir in the cilantro.
4. In a separate skillet, heat the tortillas. Add the filling in either the center of the tortilla (for an open-faced approach) or off to the side (for a taco) and then add the cheese. I like doing the cheese over the heat and serving these already prepared because it's a little easier on table clean-up.

corn squash taco openface