This corn recipe uses creamy pureed cashews to recreate a favorite summer side dish. With fresh basil blended in, it is full of seasonal flavor. It fits into a vegan or dairy-free diet making it a great option for a variety of eating styles. 
Almost three years and I’m still trying to get used to living in a place where the weather varies little throughout the year. Fall is evident as most of the trees change colors and lose their leaves, and although there is no snow, winter brings cooler temperatures.
But spring and summer are a different story.
In mid-February and early March, I watch people in my social media feeds share about their love or hate of the cold temperatures and snow while we are enjoying full-on spring. It’s that point when I start to lose track of time. Before I know it, the stone fruits show up at our farmers markets and people across the country are sharing pictures of tomatoes from the garden.
Oh, right. It’s almost July.
It makes it really easy to miss those short-lived seasonal foods I love so much. Yes, even our foods here have seasons. While a lot of things can be found year round, local cherries, berries, squash and tomatoes all have a very distinct season.
And one other thing — corn.
I absolutely love fresh sweet corn. Once again, I almost forgot that it was time for it to show up at the market and boom, there it was. In abundance, too, so that means at a very good price.
I grabbed 3 ears this week, knowing that I had to make some version of skillet corn. Creamed corn sounded so good, but I rarely have cream in the house. That got me thinking about the magic that is pureed cashews.
If you are into food at all, I know you’ve seen cashews blended into sauces and made into cheese. I don’t venture too much into this world, simply because not being a vegan or dairy free, I don’t have much need to. But I do love me some cashews. So for this version of creamed corn, I thought using cashews to create the creamy sauce would be a great idea.
Not only do the nuts add a little protein, the sweet flavor pairs so well with the corn. A little fresh basil brightens it up and makes it taste even more like summer. Just remember to plan ahead a bit because you’ll need to soak the cashews for about 2 hours.
Feel free to double the recipe and take it to a potluck or serve it as a side dish when you have a table of friends with mixed eating styles. No doubt, everyone will love it!
- 1/2 cup raw cashew pieces, soaked in 3/4 cup water for 2 hours
- 2 large leaves of fresh sweet basil
- 1/2 teaspoon fine ground sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears)
- Chopped fresh basil and ground black pepper for garnish
- Reserve 1/2 cup of the cashew soaking liquid and place it in the cup or pitcher of a high-powered blender. Drain the rest of the water from the cashews and add them to the blender. Puree on high for 45 seconds, or use the pulse button for about 10 10-second intervals. The goals is to completely pulverize the nuts and blend them into the water to create a smooth sauce.
- Add the basil leaves, salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper to the creamed nuts. Puree again until the basil is finely chopped.
- Preheat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 4 minutes. Stir in the corn and cook for 4 more minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the creamed cashews and cook just until heated through, about 30 more seconds.
- Remove from the heat and sprinkle with chopped basil and black pepper before serving.
This is gorgeous!! I love corn, any way you serve it!
Thanks so much, Cathleen! Me, too!
I just had some of the sweetest ears of corn this past week! What a great dish–love the vegan spin on this classic!
I can’t get enough of good corn! My summer favorite next to heirloom tomatoes!