FIGHTING OBESITY...Recipes from the Growing Healthy Kids Project

At our last FITNESS, FUN, AND FOOD event in Vero Beach, Florida, the kids and adults learned how to make Fresh Corn Salsa.  This delicious dish can be used as a side salad and goes great with grilled fish, baked chicken, and of course, Mexican dishes such as enchiladas and fish tacos. 

Below is the recipe for this simple, healthy dish filled with flavors from the garden.  This is a basic recipe that can be changed up depending on what is fresh, in season, and of course, what you have on hand. 

To prepare corn, follow these easy 3 steps:

1. Put into a large pot of boiling water and cook 4 minutes:
• 4 ears of fresh corn, shucked
2. Rinse corn under cold water to stop the cooking. 
3. Stand up one ear of corn at a time in a large bowl and cut the corn off the cob. 

Chop and add to the corn:

• 4 Roma tomatoes
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow or red onion (we used a Florida sweet onion)
• 1 avocado (optional)
• ½ cup fresh cilantro

 Open, drain, and rinse:

• 1 can black beans

Add:

• Juice of 4-5 limes
• ¼ cup Mojo marinade

 Thanks to Veggies of Vero (www.veggiesofvero.com) for supplying vegetables used in the preparation of this recipe.  Fresh Corn Salsa received the Growing Healthy Kids' Seal of  Approval on February 25, 2012 from the kids with Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program. As Ginny Rhodes, Program Director with Youth Guidance fondly says, “We LOVE Veggies of Vero!”

Did you know…

• An ear of corn averages 800 kernels in 16 rows?
• More corn, in weight, is grown worldwide than any other grain?
• half an ear of corn has about 15 grams of carbohydrates (if you have diabetes, this is about 1 serving of carbohydrates)

 Enjoy this recipe and stay tuned for many more.  We’re working on something REALLY BIG for our readers all around the world. 

Growing Healthy Kids is a movement to reverse childhood obesity, one garden and one child at a time.  Thank you for all you do to teach your own children the joys of eating real food.

One of our Master Gardener volunteers teaches a girl how to slice peppers.

A boy concentrates on chopping cilantro for the FRESH CORN SALSA.

Sincerely,

Nancy L. Heinrich, M.P.H.

Founder