Ward Street Bistro

Corn Fritter Casserole

Some time ago, Cooking Light published a lightened version of the classic "Jiffy Mix" corn casserole. If you're not familiar with this side dish it is really tasty. But the original version - which contains Jiffy Mix corn muffin mix, sour cream, eggs, canned corn and a stick of butter - packs on the calories. Fine if you're Paul Deen (her version, BTW, adds cheddar cheese), but not-so-fine for the weight-watching head chef here at the Bistro. (That would be me.)

So, I gave the Cooking Light version a go and Drake loved it. I, however, was a bit bothered about the Jiffy Mix. The mix is is loaded with hydrogenated fats and it uses de-germinated corn meal, which has less flavor (and less fiber) than whole grain. To top it off,  Jiffy Mix is quite sweet, which made the casserole very sweet - tasty - but a bit too sweet to my taste.

So, I re-worked the recipe into a healthier, "from scratch" version that's less sweet than the original and with richer corn flavor. I'm quite happy with my variation, and it passed the hubby test with flying colors. Served along side some BBQ it's a hard-to-beat summer side dish.

You can go directly to the printable recipe or I'll show you how to make it, step-by-step...

Crab, Asparagus, and Orange Salad

This light and lively salad is perfect for a warm evening. You could serve it as an appetizer salad, but I'm showing it here as a main course (as we recently enjoyed it). The fresh crab is definitely a splurge; you could certainly substitute shrimp or scallops. And the fresh, local asparagus... cooked under the broiler until lightly brown... the direct heat brings out all of its natural sweetness. Rounding the salad out is a bit of tang from fresh orange segments and a citrus dressing.

You can go directly to the printable recipe or I'll show you how to make this salad step-by-step...

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I love these cookies. When the occasion calls for a chocolate-chip cookie, these are what I make.

For me, three things elevate them above the standard chocolate-chop concoction:

• using ground oats in place of some of the flour (for a chewy texture and pleasing oat-y flavor)
• melted milk chocolate incorporated into the dough (which adds depth to the chocolate flavor) and
• hand-chopped bittersweet chocolate chunks.

They keep wonderfully, too. The recipe is an adaptation from Cook's Country magazine, sister publication to Cook's Illustrated.

You can go directly to the printable recipe or I'll show you how to make them step-by-step: