Spicy Corn Relish

Growing up, 'relish' only meant one thing, and that was the pickled cucumber-variety sold in a jar at the grocery store. It was always available with the mustard and ketchup at hot dog stands, but I always stayed far away from it.

Now I know a relish is any mixture of pickled vegetables (or fruits - i.e. tomatoes!) in a sauce, and that it can easily be made at home. These heartier relishes become almost more like side dishes than condiments. The original recipe suggested serving this alongside chicken nuggets, so I went out and bought the vegan Chic-a-roos nuggets from the Food for Life company: www.foodforlife.com. Try any 'chicken' nuggets of your choice - be careful because some vegetarian companies use egg whites etc. Or have it with vegan hot dogs!

To make the relish, chop one cup Vidalia onion (or other sweet onion of your choice), 1 cup celery and 1/2 cup green bell pepper. Place in a food processor and pulse about 5 times until finely chopped - I actually did this working in two batches, since my food processor is small, which worked just fine. Set aside.

In a saucepan, combine 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 2/3 cup raw sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 tsp. dry mustard, 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric, 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper and 1 (4-ounce) jar of diced pimientos (drained) - stir until the sugar dissolves.

I messed up the pimientos twice, trying to buy them! Without thinking, I bought canned green chiles my first trip to the grocery store, before realizing that's not what was called for - pimientos are sold in jars near bottled red peppers, olives etc., and are milder and sweeter. I went back to the store for those, but come home with sliced ones! Luckily, this was easily resolved by dumping the sliced pimientos on a cutting board and dicing them myself.

Stir in the chopped onion mixture and 2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 or 4 ears). Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

1/2 a cup of relish is 130 calories.

Cost:
Vidalia onion $0.61
celery $3.39
green bell pepper $0.82
turmeric $2.19
jarred pimientos $2.49
fresh corn $2.49