Amazing flavors of summer, pretty and easy– who could ask for more?
If you are looking for a side with that quintessential flavor of summer look no further. This salad has it all. Sweet crunch of summer corn, bright tang of tomatoes, summer herbs and savory onion – all tied together with a dressing that has the delicious flavor linger on your taste buds. The ingredients are easy to find in the summer and represent the best that summer has to offer.
Ingredients
- 6 ears of fresh Corn on the cob that has been shucked, blanched and cut off the cob.
- 15 Cherry Tomatoes (1 Cup) (I like Grape or Cherry – they have a great sweetness – but you can dice up a beefsteak or roma right out of the garden.)
- Purple Onion small dice (great color)
- Celery small dice– compliments and tones the sharpness of the onion and adds a fresh green flavor.
- Basil & Rosemary finely chopped (about 2 Tbl) – Don’t be shy with your choice of herbs. Whatever looks good in the garden – I think Basil and Rosemary go well but this time I picked a leaf or two of sage, chives, parsley, thyme and mix’em all in there.
Dressing
- 4 Tbl Melted Butter (or fat of your choice) + 1 Tbl Olive Oil
- 1 Tbl Rice Wine Vinegar
- ½ tsp Dry Mustard (Colemans is my new favorite spice)
- ½ tsp of dry Parsley
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- Pinch each of Salt, Pepper, Sugar
- More Salt & Pepper, to taste
I use butter in this recipe and so when it chills it tends to tighten up. I usually take it out of the fridge about an hour before serving and give it a stir or two to loosen it up before dinner. This really makes a perfect picnic or grilling salad because it holds up to being out of the chiller.
Steps
- Put a large pot of salt water on the stove to boil. The pot should be big enough to accommodate the 6 ears of corn.
- Shuck and clean all of the corn.
- Prepare a large bowl of ice water – again large enough to accommodate the corn.
- When the water on the stove comes to a boil add the cobs of corn and boil for 4-5 minutes. The corn will turn bright yellow. Take the corn out of the pot with tongs and put them in the ice water to stop the cooking process and set the color. At this point the corn will have lost the starchy flavor revealing more of its sweetness. The kernels will have a crisp bite. Let the corn stay in the ice water until they are cooled 3-4 minutes. Remove from the water and set aside.
- In a large ‘deep’ bowl hold the cobs big side down and with a boning knife or other small knife cut the kernels off the cob. When you release all of the kernels use the back of the knife to scrap the cob gently to ensure you get the small pieces left on the cob and all of the sweet juices it contains.
- Next finely dice the onion and celery – the size should be slightly larger than a large corn kernel. This will help the flavors to blend better. Each bite results in an excellent flavor and not a big chuck of onion.
- The tomatoes on the other hand can be slightly larger – I quarter cherry tomatoes and half grape tomatoes. So think of that when you are cutting a Roma, heirloom or standard tomato. (see special note below)
- Finely chop the herbs you are going to use.
- Add the Onions, Celery and Herbs to the large bowl of blanched Kernels. Leave out the tomatoes until the end – they can get ‘mushed’ up as you mix the salad.
- In a side bowl whisk together all of the dressing ingredients.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well.
- Lastly, add Tomatoes and gently stir to incorporate throughout the salad.
Allow to chill for up to two hours or make it the night/day before. This is one of those salads that gets good while it sits. Take the salad out of the fridge an hour to an hour and a half before meal. Alternatively – you can pop the bowl in the microwave for two minutes before stirring after a minute right before you serve it.
Side note: After reading an article I tried Kumato Tomatoes. They are a dark green reddish brown color. They are allowed to stay on the vine longer so they tend to be sweeter with more naturally developed tomato flavors. Give them a try when you can only get store bought tomatoes. They would be really pretty in the salad.
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