Creamy Salsa Verde Lentils with Sweet Corn Cakes
#lentilfestival #salsaverde #sweetcorncakes
The annual Legendary Lentil Cook-off is a small town event held in Pullman Washington. I had not heard about this contest until last year while scrolling through Contest Cook website for current recipe contest and cook offs. Last year I created Butternut Lentil Tacos in Cauliflower Lentil Shells. They were so good. I look back at them now and they may have been a little over the top for this small town contest.
Looks like I am a fan of Mexican flavors. Yeap, I am. I love the spice, color and mostly because Mexican food can be gluten free. My sweet corn cakes in this recipe are not gluten free because of the flour that is added but that could be fixed easily by using a good quality gluten free baking flour.
So I may not be going this year to the Legendary Lentil Cook-off but three of my talents foodie friend competitors, Jodi Taffel, Ronna Farley and Hideme Walsh are going. I will be following along to see who is crowned the winner. Go girls!!!! *2018 Five Finalists List, photo courtesy of Legendary Lentil Cook-off website.
My 2018 Legendary Lentil Cook-off recipe entry, Creamy Salsa Verde Lentils with Sweet Corn Cakes
Creamy Salsa Verde Lentils with Sweet Corn Cakes
Number of servings: 5
This delicious meatless meal will satisfy your family. The creamy salsa verde lentils are simmered until tender then topped with sweet corn cakes.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups roasted Salsa Verde, jar style, medium heat
- 2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup raw lentils
- 1-10 oz. can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 2-11 oz. cans whole kernel sweet niblet corn, drained (3 cups drained)
- ½ cup plus 6 tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature
- 6 tbs. sugar
- ¼ tsp. kosher salt
- 1 cup Masa Harina flour
- ¼ cup plus 1 cup flour, divided
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 4 cups Japanese breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 oz. Cotija cheese, crumbled
- 1 large lime, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large sauce pan, add the jarred Salsa Verde, chicken stock and raw lentils, Bring to a boil over medium heat, once simmering, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 25 minutes or until the lentils are tender. When the lentils are tender, blend in the condensed cream of chicken soup and heat through. Remove from heat.
- Prepare Sweet Corn Cakes: Add 2 cups of canned corn kernels to a food processor, pulse until it is coarsely ground. Scrape pulsed corn into a bowl and add the softened butter, sugar and ¼ tsp. salt. Mix to blend well. Gently stir in the Masa Harina flour, ¼ cup flour until just blended, then add in the remaining 1 cup of whole corn kernels. Mix until blended in and distributed.
- Set up three dredging trays, one with 1 cup of flour, another beaten eggs and last the Japanese breadcrumbs. Scoop corn cake mixture into (15-18) balls approximately 3 tablespoons of mixture each. Toss each ball in the flour, then into the beaten eggs and roll in the Japanese breadcrumbs.
- Arrange the cakes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cakes are crisp and the bottoms are golden brown.
- Scoop some of the Creamy Salsa Verde Lentils on each platter, Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, top with 3 Sweet Corn Cakes and garnish with the crumbled Cotija cheese. Serve with lime wedges.
