With spring in the air, we’re here to share another light and easy Chinese veggie recipe this week. Pine nuts are not only subtly fragrant but extremely nutritious, and make up the main ingredient of this week’s recipe, along with corn.

I’ve always got some frozen corn in the freezer as it’s so versatile and easy to store (not to mention tasty!), so this recipe is often a go-to if the fridge and food cupboards are looking a bit bare.

The ingredient list is ultra short – you just need some spring onion, chillis (if you fancy it spicy) and milk, as well as the titular corn and pine nuts! You can be a bit flexible with the specific amount of the two key ingredients, but a good guide is a ratio of 3 portions of corn to 1 portion of pine nuts.

Unlike most stirfry recipes, there’s very little prep, as you don’t need to chop the corn or the pine nuts! Ideally defrost the corn first, but you can always do that in the microwave. After that, it takes less than 10 minutes to cook.

Ingredients
75-100g pine nuts
1-2 red or green chillis
1 spring onion
250-300g frozen corn
2 tbsps of milk
1/2 tsp of sugar
Salt to taste

You’ll also need a nut oil for stir-frying.

Step 1: Toast the pine nuts in a pan without oil for 2 minutes until they start to brown, stirring with a wooden spatula to avoid burning. Remove and set aside.

Step 2: Chop the chillis and separate the whites and greens of the spring onions, chopping the whites into 1 inch sections and chopping the greens more finely.

Step 3: Heat a pan with oil until the oil starts to bubble, then add in the chopped chillis and whites of spring onions, and then add the corn straight away.

Step 4: Stir-fry the corn for 1 minute before adding the milk, sugar and salt. Stir-fry for a further 2 minute until the milk is slightly absorbed – don’t worry, the pine nuts will soak up the rest.

Step 5: Add the pine nuts to the pan and stir-fry for a further 30 seconds before turning off the head and sprinkling the greens of the spring onions on top. Remove from the pan and serve!

It’s so quick and easy, and is a great sweet yet savoury side dish to add to your meal. It might be our easiest recipe yet – what do you think?