Street Corn Pasta Salad

Street Corn becomes a whole new side and is so addicting. There’s sweet corn and salty cheese that wakes up with lime. I love elotes as a side but gave it a whole new personality.

This stores so well and is great later. Turn it into a full meal with a scoop of black beans or chicken on top. I added a mound of arugula and it was so nicely balanced.

Street Corn Pasta Salad
Ingredients: (for ~4 side servings or 2-3 meals)

1-1 1/2 cups pasta (Ditalini or small elbows)
1 cup corn
1/4 cup cheese (feta or cotija)
3 tablespoons mayo
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon chili powder/chili lime/smoked paprika/cayenne

Directions:
Cook the pasta and the corn and allow to cool.
Mix up the mayo, lime juice, and chili seasoning.

Add the dressing to the corn, pasta, and the cheese reserving just a sprinkle for the top.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top with another sprinkle of chili powder. Refrigerate until serving.
Enjoy!

I love the combo here of sweet corn and salty cheese. Make it yours by increasing the lime, or spice, or corn, or dressing. The dressing could be half mayo and half Greek yogurt or half sour cream.

This keeps well for days or is great made the day before. This would be perfect alongside tacos and seems ideal to make freezer tamales or taquitos into a meal.

April 2024 Recap

April was such a whirlwind with school vacation getaway to Mystic & Legoland, a few social plans, a few dr’s appts, and the start of baseball season!

In the kitchen, I made a few fun things! I took inspiration from Tacobell and made a Taco Pizza – which is kind of a quesadilla pizza? That gets confusing but whatever you call it, it was delicious and was such a meal from the refried beans and ground meet middle layer.

I made a red velvet waffle that is so good and could also be pancakes! I froze the rest and toast them to order!

The Three Bite Rule - Red Velvet Waffles

A chopped Greek salad rounded out the blog posts and is perfectly hardy to pack for lunch, dinner on the go, or for a group.

Chopped Greek Salad - The Three Bite Rule

May is another full one – lots of baseball and the last dance classes and recital! At work reunion is coming up. Foodwise, it’ll mean some quick or packable dinners, likely more grilling, and more salads. I love this change of seasons and am glad for more time outside.

The Big Kid:
He is getting into the baseball season. We loved seeing him follow the map at Legoland! He thought the vending machines were one of the best parts of staying at a hotel. He’s had lots of birthday parties lately. He is still into bananas and loves a bacon, egg & cheese.

The Little One:
She is our adrenaline junkie – she LOVED the roller coaster at Legoland. It was great to see her eat really well on vacation. She went to a Taylor Swift Dance Party birthday party and loved it. I was happy to see her have fun with girls in her class. There was about a week on and off of her under the weather – she had a headache and was better, then tired and was better, wasn’t hungry, then was better.

Goals for this year:
Year of small businesses/artisans/writers: It was time for a springy scent from Paperback Candles.
More meatless meals: Hmmm.
sandwiches and salads: Chopped Greek salad!
a focus on going to new or places we don’t get to all the time: We went to dinner at Jinny’s Pizza in Newton and looooved it. Our trip to Mystic & Legoland counts too!
redo photos – none this month.
what I’m reading: I read The Cuban Heiress which was pretty good but I think some of her other titles have more Cuba in them! I also read Hey Ladies! which was also ok. Then I read You, Again which again was entertaining but not amazing. I read The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches and thought it was cute.

TacoBell Inspired Pizza

The tacobell pizza has a cult following and is fun and easy to make at home. It is kind of a stacked quesadilla so go for that name if it has better market-ability with your eaters.

Our youngest was my sous-chef and then proceeded to eat the whole thing. She sometimes has the appetite of a bird so that’s either a ringing endorsement, or it fell on a day full of activity and included ingredients we all like, in a format not all that different.

Tacobell Pizza
Ingredients (for 4 servings):

1/2 pound ground meat
2 tablespoons taco seasoning (half a packet)
8 flour tortillas
1/2 can refried beans
~1 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup enchilada sauce
toppings: diced tomato, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, corn, red/green/pickled onions, olives, etc

Directions:
Cook, drain, and season the meat.
While the meat cooks, preheat the oven 
Warm the refried beans.
Spray 4 of the tortillas with non-stick spray and put them on a baking sheet in the oven for ~3 minutes until warmed through and getting toasted.
Take those 4 warmed tortillas out of the oven spread with the beans and top with ground meat.

Layer the next tortillas on top (optional: can be warming in the oven while the beans & meat go onto the first 4 tortillas.)
Spoon enchilada sauce on top of each stack and sprinkle on the cheese.
Return to the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.
Add any toppings to each! (Mine was diced tomato and green chili sauce and I forgot we had pickled onions! The others did combinations of black olives, sour cream, and salsa on the side to dip)

Slice and enjoy!

These were very fun and just added a slight twist to taco night. They work OK on a skillet/griddle but getting that top cheese to melt needs heat from above or domed with a cover!

Red Velvet Waffles

These red velvet waffles are so good and striking! They have a glaze drizzle or would be delicious with some cream cheese frosting! We froze the rest and popping one in the toaster on a weekday makes breakfast a bit more fun.

The Three Bite Rule - Red Velvet Waffles

These could be pancakes instead if that’s more your style!

The Three Bite Rule - Red Velvet Waffles

Red Velvet Waffles
Ingredients: (makes 3 waffles, ~6 servings)

1 cup pancake mix
1 cup red velvet mix
1 1/4 cup cold water (according to pancake mix)
1 egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Optional glaze: 3 tablespoons confectioners sugar & 3 tablespoons milk & drop of vanilla extract

Directions:
Mix together
Preheat the waffle iron and pour a scoop onto the iron and cook for ~3-4 minutes.

The Three Bite Rule - Red Velvet Waffles

Whisk together the glaze or serve with cream cheese frosting.

The Three Bite Rule - Red Velvet Waffles

These were fun and would be great as an option alongside plain ones with all the toppings, or savory waffles (I make these sausage, egg & cheese waffles).

Chopped Greek Salad

This chopped Greek salad has the perfect bite every time since everything is the same size! There are a few special ingredients to make it extra special – spoiler: mint and crumbled pita takes this salad to the next level.

Chopped Greek Salad - The Three Bite Rule

Chopped Greek Salad
Ingredients: (serves 2 meals, or 4 sides)

1 can garbanzo beans
1/2 cucumber
1 small tomato
1 bell pepper – any color
~10 mint leaves (or swap for 1 teaspoon fresh oregano)
~1/4 of a red onion
2 tablespoons oil/red wine vingear or 2 tablespoons Italian dressing
1 cup pita chips
Optional: 1 tablespoon creamy caesar + 1 tablespoon Tahini

Directions:
Chop the cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, mint, and red onion. Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans. Soak the onion in cold water.
Add all the veggies, herbs, and cheese into a bowl.

Chopped Greek Salad - The Three Bite Rule

Drizzle in the dressing or oil/vinegar, salt and pepper, zatar spice or Italian seasoning, and toss well.

Taste and adjust as needed. Just before serving, crumble in the pita chips.
Optional: stir together the caesar/tahini mixture and drizzle over the top.
Enjoy!

Chopped Greek Salad - The Three Bite Rule

The mint and the crumbled pita chips are the true stars of this salad. It is flavorful, filling, and has all the textures. I ate this for lunch – and can totally picture throwing it together for dinner on the baseball sidelines! It’d be great to bring to a party.