Fire Roasted Corn Salsa

On Cinco de Mayo this year, I was craving a predominantly corn salsa to go with our taco bar. Let me tell you what--I have burned my poor husband out on shredded chicken barbeque tacos (I'll post a recipe for that another time) just to eat with the corn salsa since! It adds the perfect touch to tacos and salads. Hope ya'll enjoy it as much as we have :)

Ingredients:

5 ears of corn (I love the bi-color)
2-4 tablespoons of diced red onion
1 jalapeno pepper
1 poblano pepper
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons sugar (omit this if you'd like a healthier option. I just like the balance it gives the lime)
approx 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
salt
pepper
garlic and onion powder
aluminum foil

Prep your corn and fire up the grill!

After prepping your corn, lightly butter it and place on a sheet of aluminum foil large enough to wrap the corn securely in. Before wrapping, salt, pepper, and lightly sprinkle garlic and onion powder onto the corn.

Wrap up the corn and peppers (no seasonings) and roast on the grill. I always put the peppers around the outside of the grill and use about a medium heat; roasting for a hour, or until the corn is tender. When I have the time, I like to use a low heat and let the corn roast for a few hours. But be careful because too long and you'll lose the crisp and get a gummy texture. 

Let the corn cool enough to handle it and then cut it off the cob.

When you open the foil with the pepper, you're gonna find a couple withered up green mushy things. That's normal, I promise ;)

When I don't have gloves handy for the kitchen--which let's face it, that's never--I use the veggie bag I put the pepper in at the store and wrap it around my hand for protection against the heat. Or at least that's what I should do most of the time. It's a wonder I haven't put my own eyes out yet! 

Deseed the peppers. I like a little bit of spice, but I don't like my salsa so hot that my nose runs into my food, so for this amount of corn I use half the jalapeno and 1/3 of the poblano. To make it easier, I just stack one on the other and mince.

You'll end up with a big jarbled up mess that looks something like this:

Add peppers to the corn along with the diced onion (I start with 2 Tablespoons and add more, depending on my mood), chopped cilantro, sugar. Stir together well. Cut a lime in half and squeeze juice into the salsa and stir again. Will keep my refrigeration for about 2 weeks. I like to leave my lime in the salsa for about a week and then toss it out. 

Enjoy!