I received product samples from Sam’s Fresh Salsa to help in the creation of this post. All opinions are my own.
Yes, it’s summer, but the weather here hasn’t felt like it the last week or so. All the dreary, rainy days have me craving comfort food so I took one of my summer staples – salsa! – and turned it into the perfect rainy-day dinner.
Tender chunks of pork are stewed in a couldn’t-be-easier verde sauce and then buried in piles of fluffy cornbread dumplings. Finish with a dollop of sour cream and you have the perfect meal!
I created this recipe for Sam’s Fresh Salsa Blogger Recipe Challenge and couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out!
I feel like we’re in this weird place in between summer and fall. We’re prepping for a beach trip – but also getting ready to start school. It’s warm enough to swim, but cools down at night enough for a sweatshirt.
Should I be posting fall dishes here? Or keep rocking summer?
This cornbread is a little of both – a great side for a summer cookout or a big bowl of fall chili. And really, is there any better side for either?
I’ve shared a few fun cornbread variations before – Amish Cornbread and Jalapeno Cornbread – but this is my favorite basic recipe. It’s gritty, but moist. Crumbly, but soft. Slather it with some honey butter and you’ve basically got heaven on a plate!
Buttermilk Cornbread
Makes 1 9×9″ pan
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Grease and flour a 9×9″ pan and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a large skillet, melt the butter, then remove from heat. Immediately stir in sugar, then the eggs and beat until well blended.
In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda and buttermilk. Stir into the mixture in the pan.
Stir in the cornmeal, flour, and salt until just a few lumps remain.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
I’m sort of terrible at reading magazines. I subscribe to a lot of them and usually just end up flipping through them once. And then every once I find an article I keep coming back to. When I picked up the April issue of Family Fun and saw there was a whole feature on waffles? Instantly obsessed. Waffles are one of my go-to dinners for busy nights and they’re just happy food – which is exactly what we’ve needed around here lately. April was a doozey!
These were really good. A fun take on chili with the flavor without the spoon – like a loaded up cornbread. And they’re one of those meatless meals where you just don’t miss the meat. The leftovers got happily gobbled up the next day for lunch – next time I’ll be doubling the recipe so they last longer!
Chili Cornbread Waffles (from the April 2015 issue of Family Fun Magazine) Makes 4-5
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 cup kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, plus additional for serving
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup frozen corn
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
4 scallions, thinly sliced, for serving
2/3 cup sour cream
Half an avocado
Juice of half a lime
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, garlic powder, onion powder and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together the eggs, buttermilk , oil and tomato paste until well combined. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until well blended. Fold in kidney beans, cheddar, red bell pepper, corn and jalapenos.
Heat a waffle iron on high and spray with non-stick spray. Pour 1/2 cup of the batter into the heated iron and cook until golden brown. Repeat until the batter is all used up.
While the waffles cook, whisk together the sour cream and avocado until smooth.
Serve the warm waffles topped with avocado cream, cheddar and scallions.
