Our November 2022 vegetable of the month is corn. Corn is a versatile vegetable that can be eaten boiled, roasted, or steamed. Corn can be dried and used for popcorn or to make hominy. Ground corn can be used to make grits, or cornmeal for corn tortillas or cornbread.

The corn we use for cooking is a variety of maize called sweet corn, sugar corn, or pole corn. It is harvested fresh as opposed to field corn which is dried. Because of its high sugar content sweet corn stores poorly and must be served fresh, or canned or frozen for later use.

Th Iroquois were the first to produce sweet corn which is a mutation of field corn. They gave it to European settlers in 1779. In most of Latin America, corn is traditionally eaten with beans.

Cooking sweet corn increases its levels of ferulic acid which is believed to have anti-cancer properties.

Three and a half ounces of sweet corn has approximately 86 calories, 3 grams of sugar, almost 3 grams of fiber, 1 gram of fat, and 3.2 grams of protein. Corn has trace amounts of several vitamins and minerals and is a limited source of vitamins A, B6 and C and the minerals iron, thiamine, folate, niacin, and Pantothenic acid.

This month I made a family favorite, Shrimp, and sausage foil packets. Here is the link for the recipe, https://www.wellplated.com/cajun-shrimp-boil-foil-packets/

When I make this recipe, it’s a family affair and we do a few things differently. I precook the vegetables, shrimp, and sausage slightly with spices, olive oil, and a little vegan butter before making the packets. This reduces the time in the oven and the oven temperature. It allows the spices to cook in better. My son James is in charge of assembling the packets, adding the final spices, lemon wedges and lemon juice. We like spicy and he never disappoints. We use andouille sausage and a plant-based andouille sausage for me. I still haven’t found great plant-based substitutes for shrimp, salmon, or tuna so I occasionally take a cheat day and have shrimp in my packet.

These packets are delicious, and you can vary the vegetables and spices to suit your family’s preferences.

We prefer to use corn on the cob, but if you don’t have it, frozen corn works well.

You can cook the packets in the oven, on the grill, or even in a campfire. Easy and fun but watch the sodium if you’re using a Cajun seasonings mix. It can sneak up on you.

Enjoy!

Our vegetable of the month for December will be asparagus.

The Twelve Months of Vegetables

January       Cabbage         Mahi Mahi Soft Tacos

February     Zucchini           Chocolate Zucchini Bread

March         Leeks                Colcannon

April             Carrots             Gingered Carrots & Kale Ribbons and Carrot

                                                   Cake

May            Beets                 Quinoa Burgers & Vegan Poke Bowl with

                                                    Beets

June            Kale                    Tuscan White Bean Soup & Sweet Potato

                                                    Noodles & Garlic with Kale

July             Broccoli             Roasted Broccoli & Tofu w/Creamy Miso

                                                    Dressing and Chicken Broccoli Shells

August       Potatoes            Special Potatoes & Sweet Potatoes with

                                                    Chickpeas & Broccoli Pesto

September  Green Beans    Special Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes with

                                                    Chickpeas & Broccoli Pesto

October        Spinach             Cheesy Spinach Pesto Flatbread & Chinese

Spinach-Almond Salad

November   Corn                    Shrimp & Sausage Foil Packets

December   Asparagus