Chipotle Vegetable Cornbread with Black Beans and Sweetcorn
Taking a tin of just-baked cornbread to the park is guaranteed to raise big smiles from your crowd as they see you arriving with this as your picnic contribution. Made with polenta and plain flour, a couple of eggs, and some yogurt, the cornbread batter is then studded with sweetcorn, black beans, cherry tomatoes, and chipotle flakes before being baked until puffed and golden. This recipe is quite possibly the perfect park picnic dish. Eat it just warm, or cold.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4
150g fine polenta
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp soft brown sugar or maple syrup
2 eggs
150ml plain yogurt
100ml milk
30ml olive oil, plus extra to drizzle and cook onion
1 tsp dried oregano
1–3 tsp chipotle flakes
1 small red onion, cut into thin wedges
100g cherry tomatoes, halved
100g sweetcorn
150g black beans, drained
Small bunch coriander, finely chopped
To serve;
Hot sauce
1 lime, cut into wedges
METHOD
Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C fan
Lightly pan-fry the red onion in a splash of oil for 2–3 minutes until slightly softened, then stir in the tomato, corn, black beans and ½ the coriander, then season to taste with salt, pepper and 1 tbsp of the sugar.
In a large bowl, whisk together the polenta, flour, baking powder, salt, 2 tbsp of the sugar, oregano and chipotle flakes.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, yogurt, milk and olive oil. Combine the wet and dry mixtures to form a batter and pour into an oven dish, then top with the vegetable mixture.
Bake for 30–35 minutes until golden and set in the middle.
Serve with the remaining coriander, hot sauce, and lime wedges for serving at the picnic.