Salsa, in my mind, should be the official condiment of summer. It's the perfect vehicle for almost all of the season's produce bounty.
While perfectly ripe tomatoes are one of the most popular bases for fresh salsa, it's certainly not the only one. At the end of summer, my salsa ingredient of choice is often corn. Its sweetness offers a nice balance to the heat of the chiles and the tartness of lime juice.
When the weather is too hot to turn on the stove or oven, I'll grill extra ears of corn and chiles, along with whatever else I'm grilling, just to have on hand to toss together a quick batch of this salsa. The corn and chiles can also be roasted, or, as I'm doing in today's recipe, sautéed in a skillet.
And don't think of using it just on nachos. A bowl of corn salsa in the fridge has myriad uses and can help you get a delicious meal on your table in minutes. Use it to top grilled fish or chicken or in salads or wraps. You can add black beans and chopped tomatoes to it and turn it into a hearty salad, or add a little mayo and cotija cheese for an elote-inspired side dish.
Of course, it can also be used as a dip for tortilla chips or a topping for tacos.
Today, I'm using my corn and poblano salsa to perk up a batch of sheet-pan nachos. This recipe couldn't be simpler to make and is a delicious choice for gameday snacking.
Rotisserie chicken is shredded and tossed with your favorite tomatillo salsa before being layered on a sheet pan with tortilla chips and a generous amount of cheese. The nachos are baked until hot, then topped with the corn salsa and dollops of sour cream.
The combination of sweet corn, savory chicken and salty chips is absolutely addictive. You should have leftover corn salsa, which will take some of the stress out of your weekday meal planning. So you'll be winner, even though you team might not be.