Charred Corn, Zucchini, and Poblano Tacos
Corn, diced zucchini, and poblano blistered in a dry skillet until spotted black, piled into warm corn tortillas with lime yogurt, scallions, and cilantro.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Taco night at my house is usually built around whatever is cheap in August, and in August that is corn, zucchini, and poblanos three for a dollar. This takes about twenty five minutes and the only skill involved is being willing to let the pan get hotter than feels sensible. Char is the whole point. Vegetables cooked gently here would be sweet and pleasant and forgettable, and vegetables cooked hard enough to blacken in patches taste like they came off a grill. It is the difference between a filling and something people go back for.
The corn goes in first and alone, in a dry hot pan with no oil, and it will pop and jump for a minute or two. That is the moisture leaving. Once it is spotted black it comes out, the oil goes in, and the poblano and zucchini get the same treatment in the same pan, pressed flat and left still. Cumin goes in at the very end so it toasts rather than burns, and lime juice off the heat pulls everything together. The vegetables stay separate and recognizable rather than melting into one soft pile, which is what you want in a tortilla.
Everything else is assembly, and I put it all on the table and let people build their own. Warm the tortillas properly, directly over a flame or in a dry pan until they puff, and they stop being a wrapper and start being an ingredient. The lime yogurt goes on cold and thick against the hot vegetables. Three tacos each is a real dinner, and if there is filling left over it goes into eggs the next morning without any complaint from anyone.
Ingredients
- 3 cups corn kernels (from 4 ears, or frozen and thawed)
- 1 large zucchini (about 10 oz), cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 2 poblano peppers, seeded and cut into short strips
- 12 small corn tortillas
- 3/4 cup whole milk Greek yogurt
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup cilantro leaves and thin stems, roughly chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
- 2 tbsp lime juice, plus wedges to serve
- 1 3/4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Prep everything and mix the yogurt: Cut the corn off the cobs if you are using fresh, dice the zucchini, seed and slice the poblanos, and chop the scallions, cilantro, and jalapeño. Stir the yogurt with half the lime juice and a pinch of the salt until it is smooth and pourable, and put it in the refrigerator.
- Char the corn dry: Heat a 12-inch cast iron skillet over high until a drop of water skitters. Add the corn with no oil and spread it out. It will pop and jump for the first minute, so keep a lid handy as a shield. Leave it for three minutes, toss once, and cook two minutes more until well spotted with black. Tip it into a bowl.
- Blister the poblano and zucchini: Add the olive oil to the same pan over medium-high. Add the poblano strips and cook two minutes without stirring, then add the zucchini and the salt and press everything flat. Cook four to five minutes, tossing twice, until the zucchini has dark faces and the poblano skins have gone soft and wrinkled.
- Toast the cumin and bring it together: Stir in the ground cumin and the chopped jalapeño and cook 30 seconds, until you can smell the cumin toasting. Return the corn to the pan, toss for one minute to warm it through, then take the pan off the heat and add the rest of the lime juice.
- Warm the tortillas: Heat the tortillas one or two at a time, either directly over a gas flame for about fifteen seconds a side until they blister and puff, or in a dry skillet for 30 seconds a side. Stack them in a clean towel as you go so they steam and stay soft.
- Build them: Spoon the hot vegetables down the middle of each warm tortilla, drizzle the cold lime yogurt over the top, and finish with the scallions and a heavy scatter of cilantro. Serve immediately with lime wedges, three to a plate.
Variations
- Black bean: Fold a drained and rinsed can of black beans in with the corn for a heavier, more filling taco.
- Avocado: Add sliced avocado to each tortilla under the yogurt for a cooler, richer bite.
- Smoky: Add a teaspoon of chipotle powder with the cumin so the pan tastes of real smoke rather than just char.
- Crumbled cheese: Scatter a little crumbled feta or shredded cheddar over the hot filling so it half melts before the yogurt goes on.
- Taco bowl: Skip the tortillas and pile everything over warm rice with the yogurt spooned over the top.
Storage & Leftovers
Keep the filling, the yogurt, and the tortillas in separate containers and everything holds for three days in the refrigerator. Assembled tacos do not store at all, since the tortilla goes soggy within an hour of meeting the yogurt.
Reheat the filling in a dry skillet over medium-high for two or three minutes so the char comes back rather than steaming away. Tortillas warm best over a flame from cold, and a microwave makes them chewy in a way that no amount of filling makes up for.
The filling freezes for two months in flat sealed portions. Corn and poblano come back well, though the zucchini softens noticeably. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat it hard in a hot pan, and a fresh squeeze of lime at the end covers the difference.
Notes & Tips
- Let the pan get properly hot: Cast iron over high heat until water skitters. Char needs a surface hotter than the vegetable, and a moderate pan just cooks the corn through and leaves it pale.
- Dry corn chars, wet corn steams: Whether it is fresh or thawed, blot the kernels on a towel first. Any surface water has to boil off before browning can even start.
- Cook the corn on its own: Everything in the pan at once means nothing gets contact with the metal. Two quick rounds beat one crowded pan every time.
- Cumin goes in last: Ground spice added at the start of a five-minute sear burns and turns acrid. Thirty seconds at the end is all it needs to smell toasted.
- Warm the tortillas over a flame: Fifteen seconds a side until they blister and puff. It changes the texture completely, and stacking them in a towel keeps them soft while you finish the rest.
- Keep the yogurt cold: Straight from the refrigerator onto hot vegetables. That temperature contrast is most of what makes these tacos worth eating.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Corn, poblano, and zucchini each behave differently under high heat, and that is what gives these tacos their texture. The corn stays sweet and pops, the poblano goes soft and smoky, and the zucchini holds enough bite to keep the tortilla from feeling like one soft mouthful.
- Corn is a whole grain when the kernel is eaten whole, and charring concentrates its sugars while leaving the fiber and the lutein in the hull where they were. The blackened kernels are the ones people pick out first.
- Poblanos are mild chiles that carry a real amount of vitamin C, and blistering the skins is what turns their green, grassy flavor into something smoky and rounded without adding any heat at all.
- Corn tortillas are made from whole corn treated with lime, an old process that loosens the niacin in the grain and leaves calcium behind in the masa, which is part of why they hold together the way they do.
- The lime yogurt is what makes the whole plate work. It goes on cold and thick against hot vegetables, its tang cuts through the char, and its calcium and protein turn a plate of vegetables into a dinner that holds you.
- As you eat, notice the smell of the charred corn before the first bite and how the cold yogurt lands against it, and build the next taco only once the one in your hand is finished.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use frozen corn?
Yes, and I often do. Thaw it and dry it thoroughly on a towel first, because frozen corn carries a lot of ice water and a wet pan steams instead of charring. Dried properly it blackens just as well as corn cut off a cob.
My kitchen filled with smoke.
That is a hot cast iron pan doing what it is supposed to. Turn the extractor on before you start and open a window. If it is genuinely too much, drop to medium-high and accept a little less char, or cook the corn in two smaller batches.
What can I use in place of poblano?
Anaheim peppers are the closest, mild with the same soft skins. Red bell pepper works and is sweeter. If you want more heat, keep the poblano and leave the seeds in the jalapeño, which is where nearly all the heat sits.
How do I keep the tortillas from tearing?
Warm them properly and keep them wrapped. A cold corn tortilla is brittle and will split the moment you fold it, while a warm one that has puffed goes pliable. Stacking them in a towel as they come off the heat keeps them that way through dinner.