Sweet Corn Salsa

Summer is here and it’s time for some yummy salads. And recently, I had salsa at a friend’s place and found it very tasty and healthy. Salsa is nothing but a sauce or a dip. It is often used as marinade meat and chicken. The word Salsa is a Spanish term which means sauce. So nobody calls it as salsa sauce which would make it redundant! Mexican Salsa is famous and there are many types of salsas. I particularly love Mango Salsa, Pineapple Salsa, Corn Salsa and Carrot Salsa.


Sweet Corn Salsa

Ingredients
Chopped tomatoes: 1 cup
Sweet corn: ¼ cup (cooked if desired)
Chopped fresh green onion: ¼ cup
Chopped coriander leaves: ¼ cup
Chopped red bell pepper: ¼ cup
Chopped fresh oregano: 1 tsp
Vinegar: 1 tsp
Pepper powder: ¼ tsp
Hot sauce: ½ tsp
Salt: To taste

Method
Grind ½ cup of tomatoes in a food processor with chives, coriander, oregano, vinegar, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Grind till the mixture is coarsely pureed. Add bell pepper and grind well. Transfer to a bowl and add sweet corn and the remaining ½ cup of tomatoes. Taste and add more vinegar, salt, pepper and/or hot sauce, if desired.

Cavatappi Pasta

Ingredients
Pasta (Cavatappi): 2 cups
Tomato: 2 medium sized
Capsicum: 1 small size
Onion: 1 small size
Garlic: 2 cloves
Pepper powder: ½ tsp
Oregano: ¼ tsp
Basil: ¼ tsp
Salt: As per taste
Olive oil: 5-6 tsp
Fresh cream: 3-4 tsp
Cheese: 3-4 tsp

Method
Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, add the Cavatappi pasta. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until it is cooked through, but is still firm to the bite. Drain well in a colander and add a few drops of olive oil, toss it well and keep aside. Remove seeds from tomato and chop them finely. Chop capsicum, onion and garlic also finely. Heat olive oil in a pan and add onion and garlic and saute till they turn golden brown. Add chopped tomato and fry well for 4-5 minutes. Mash the tomato well so that it leaves all its juice in the pan. Add pepper, basil, oregano and salt and saute for a minute. Add capsicum and fresh cream and mix well. Add the cooked pasta followed by cheese before tossing everything gently. Transfer to serving bowl and add olive oil on top.

Note: Normally, Parmesan cheese is used in Italian pasta, but Mozzarella cheese will also do.