Corn & Roasted Red Pepper Salsa

This is my go-to side dish whenever I make meat. It goes perfectly with grilled or oven roasted meat (I just had it yesterday with oven roasted chicken drumsticks - this is the best marinade I've made, courtesy of Ming Tsai). Not only is it a refreshing and easy side dish, most of the ingredients come from the pantry. All it is are corn, roasted red peppers, onions and vinegar.

After I came up with this recipe, I realized that the ingredients are pretty flexible - you can use fresh or canned corn, jarred or freshly made roasted peppers, any kind of onions you have at hand (scallions, shallots, red onions), and any kind of vinegar (balsamic, red wine, cider, distilled white). Of course everything tastes better if it's fresh, so I make the roasted peppers every time.

Another way this recipe is flexible is that you can match this side dish to the kind of cuisine you're making. For example, I made an Asian dinner last night, so I used scallions and sriracha. If you're having a picnic with Italian subs, you can use any other onion and balsamic vinegar.

Without further adieu, here's the recipe:

Corn & Roasted Red Pepper Salsa*
Serves 4

1 15oz. can corn (freshly grilled ones are even better)
1 red bell pepper, roasted and diced
1/2 tablespoon scallion, sliced thin (or any other onion)
1/2 tablespoon vinegar (any kind you have in the pantry)
1/4 teaspoon sriracha (hot Thai chili sauce; optional)
salt and pepper to taste

To make the roasted red bell pepper, pop it in your oven broiler. Char all sides (about 3 minutes each side, or until the skin is black).

Add all ingredients together and serve at room temperature.

* all measurements above are approximate - I like to use more vinegar, depending on what kind. If it's distilled white, that's more sharp than cider vinegar. So I use a mix of vinegar to taste in the dish, mostly 1/2 white distilled and 1/2 something else.