Mexican street corn orzo
Orzo tossed with charred corn, chili, lime, creamy sour cream and salty cotija, all the flavor of elote in a fork-friendly bowl.
- 30 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.20 a serving
- 450 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups orzo
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced (optional)
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ½ cup cotija cheese, crumbled
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- 2 stalks green onions, sliced
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt, plus ¼ tsp
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ tsp chili powder
Each serving has about 450 calories, 14 g protein, 66 g carbs and 16 g fat, and costs about $1.20 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No frozen corn? Canned corn works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon salt, cover and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Add the orzo and cook 8 to 9 minutes, until tender.
High heatTimer: 8 min 30 sec
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large over medium-high. Add the corn in an even layer and let it cook 4 minutes without stirring.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min
Dolly’s tip: Leave it alone. The browned, charred kernels are what make it taste like grilled elote.Stir and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until in spots.
Char. Charring means cooking over very high heat until some spots turn black. Those dark spots add a smoky, slightly bitter flavor that balances sweet or rich food.
How you’ll know: You see black spots and blisters in places, while most of the surface keeps its own color.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Turn the heat to low and stir in the butter, garlic, jalapeño, chili powder and ¼ teaspoon salt for 1 minute.
Low heatTimer: 1 min
the orzo, add it to the off the heat, and stir in the lime , 2 tablespoons lime juice, sour cream and most of the cotija.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Zest. Zest is the thin, colored outer layer of citrus peel, rubbed off on the smallest holes of a grater. It holds the fruit’s fragrant oils, so it adds bright flavor without the sourness of juice.
How you’ll know: You see bright flecks and smell citrus right away; stop when you reach the white layer, which is bitter.
Serve topped with the rest of the cotija, the cilantro and green onions.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
