When I was in high school my parents started eating the way many people do now, which is to say, more vegetables than meat, and sometimes no meat at all. What we didn’t know at the time was that as we swapped sloppy joes for brown rice, we needed to be mindful of what else was on our dinner plates.

Alone, vegetables or grains do not constitute complete proteins in the way that meat and eggs do. But they can when eaten together.

One of my favorite veggie protein combinations is black beans and corn. When the weather is warmer, I’ll take a corn-and-black bean salad any day, but in cooler weather I love black bean soup with a side of corn. Normally I buy Cascadian Farm, but this time I remembered I had a bag of frozen organic corn (steamed and sliced off the cob, then frozen in a Ziploc) left from my farm share last summer.

Having been part of a CSA for a year now, I know about the wow! factor in farm-fresh foods. But really, how much difference could there be in frozen corn? Turns out, quite a bit. Let’s just say it was so good, you’d never have known it came off the cob eight months ago. Local sweet corn won’t be around for a few more months, but when it does come in, remember to buy extra ears and freeze it. Next winter, you will be so glad you did.

PS As consolation until the corn arrives, try this delicious recipe for black bean soup from Bon Appetit, and don’t forget to eat it with cornbread, corn tortillas or frozen corn to round out those amino acids.