Make Ahead

Picnic Party Fresh Corn and Grilled Vegetable Salad

June 18, 2011
4
4 Ratings
  • Serves 8
Author Notes

Perfect timing for summer picnics in whatever form. On the back porch or even on the front porch while playing yard games, on the beach, in a park or poolside picnics are just plain fun!

This time of year usually means simple meals with the freshest ingredients from the veggie stands or backyard gardens. I only planted peppers and tomatoes this year, so some of the great ingredients for this salad came from our local farmers.

Any given hot evening can find many of us taking a little evening cruise on the pontoon boat and cruising or beaching the boat for a few hours, rather impromptu for the most part and pretty much follow a triple “C”rule (CCC), corn, crab, and cocktails, switching to chicken if the crab pot hasn't been set.

This is an easy recipe and I robbed enough fresh corn that I was preparing for another use for a quick addition to dinner tonight, cutting the recipe in half for just a few of us. I've made this recipe since the 80’s no real changes over the years with the exception of the availability of cilantro. Great make ahead addition to summer meals.

I don't even know what the original inspiration was so many years ago other than packing up a picnic basket or cooler, an outdoor concert comes to mind though. —ibbeachnana

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Dressing ingredients
  • 2/3 cup Mild olive oil
  • 1/3 cup Carolina seasoned cider vinegar or plain cider vinegar
  • 2 small cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons Honey or Agave syrup
  • 2 teaspoons Coarse ground Dijon mustard
  • about a teaspoon of ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sweet paprika
  • Pinch of smoked paprika
  • Dashes of hot sauce if not using the Carolina seasoned vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Salad ingredients
  • 8 Ears of fresh corn, cleaned and kernels cut off, blanch in salted water for 2-4 minutes, drain and cool
  • 4 Vidalia green onion tops and white part, ends trimmed, chopped
  • 1/4 of a large Vidalia onion, diced (grilled if you like)
  • 1 Small yellow squash, halved brushed with oil, s&p and lightly grilled and large diced
  • 1 Zucchini, halved brushed with oil, s&p, lightly grilled and then large diced
  • 5-6 Assorted baby peppers, red, yellow, orange, oiled and lightly grilled, large diced
  • 1/2 Large green pepper, oiled and lightly grilled, large diced
  • 1/4 cup Fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
  • Juice from 2-3 key limes and a little zest
  • Fresh chopped chives for garnish
Directions
  1. Mix all of the dressing ingredients, shake or whisk until thoroughly blended before pouring over the salad.
  2. Grill the peppers, squashes, prepare for salad. When corn is cooled add all the vegetables and herbs,mix, dress, season if necessary. Garnish with squeezes of lime and chopped chives. * Grilling the onions, optional, I like the sweetness of the raw Vidalia onions in this salad

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • lapadia
    lapadia
  • jeanmarieok
    jeanmarieok

3 Reviews

jeanmarieok August 15, 2011
This was delicious. I added some mint instead of cilantro (my cilantro has bolted, my mint is hanging in there), and everyone loved it. We ate it for a meatless meal, with some homemade naan. Will definitely be making it again.
 
jeanmarieok August 15, 2011
This was delicious. I added some mint instead of cilantro (my cilantro has bolted, my mint is hanging in there), and everyone loved it. We ate it for a meatless meal, with some homemade naan. Will definitely be making it again.
 
lapadia August 3, 2011
This sounds delicious, ibbeachnana! I usually try to cook according to what is available in my garden, however, we don't have fresh corn yet, this year started out cooler than usual. All the recipes are very enticing, I may have to make a trip to the market, but the corn there is not even local, yet. Thanks for sharing!