by Peter
Photo by Sarah Shatz
A&M's Testing Notes:
Expand CollapsePeter's Notes:
Expand8 ears of white corn Ask a question about this ingredient
2 quarts cherry tomatoes Ask a question about this ingredient
3 tablespoons high-quality balsamic vinegar Ask a question about this ingredient
1 medium red onion Ask a question about this ingredient
(Optional) 1 quarts sugar snap peas Ask a question about this ingredient
(Optional) 1 handfuls rough-chopped basil or flat-leaf parsley Ask a question about this ingredient
salt, preferably a large, coarse sea salt like Maldon. Ask a question about this ingredient
Strip raw corn from ears. Yep, raw. You can use a fancy corn stripper or just run your chef's knife down the side of each ear about 8 times.
Ask a question about this stepSlice all cherry tomatoes in half or quarters depending on your preference.
Ask a question about this stepChop the red onion into a large dice.
Ask a question about this stepIf using the sugar-snap peas (they can be hard to find when the corn and tomatoes are available -- their seasons barely overlap, and even then you're likely getting corn and tomatoes from the south and sugar snaps from the North.) Anyway, if using them, cut in half or thirds to make more bite-sized. If you're not using them, and you want a little green for visual appeal, some roguh chopped basil or flat-leaf parsley will do the trick.
Ask a question about this stepToss all vegetables in a bowl, along with the vinegar, salt and pepper.
Ask a question about this stepThat's it. Enjoy!
Ask a question about this stepThanks!
Next time try it with bacon!
3. Healthy (if you're into that sort of thing).
4. I could go for some right this second, instead of this babka I'm eating.
I made this with sungolds the other night and I'm pretty sure I could live on this salad alone for days. Love it.
Midge, Thanks! This is high praise coming from someone with a few Editors' Picks under their belt.
wow...I noticed that back when this was first entered there was only 3 entries...how times have changed!!!
So funny. I remember those days .... when we were so worried no one would enter the contests that we'd call/email all of our family members insisting they submit recipes!
Do you recommend any kind of tomatoes?
Summer's here! We made this today for brunch with friends. So simple & delicious. I love how the raw corn adds a sweet "corn juice" that creates the perfect dressing with the balsamic vinegar. We included the optional sugar snap peas & fresh basil & were surprised that the basil brought a subtle licorice taste to the dish. This recipe's a keeper. Thanks Peter!
PS. We didn't pre-cook the sugar snap peas; we just removed their strings & chopped them up. I love that this salad requires no cooking at all. Perfect on a hot summer day!
Glad you enjoyed it. And as yummy as I'm sure yours is, wait until August when both the corn and the sungold cherry tomatoes are at their maximum yumminess. (Though finding sugar snaps by then will be hard. Tradeoffs! Tradeoffs!)
This looks beautiful; I can't wait for summer corn. Such a lovely recipe!
Can you substitue frozen bagged corn when it is not in season? If so, how much?
You need 4 to 5 cups. It's worth trying, but can't promise it will work. I'm concerned it may seem starchy. You might want to just cook the frozen corn, blend it with the tomatoes and the rest, and have it as a warm salad. Seems like that might turn out better. Good luck!
I know this recipe has been up for a while, but I just made it this weekend for a rooftop cookout. It was absolutely delicious and we have enjoyed the leftovers for lunch. Bravo!
Glad you enjoyed it and I guess because the first corn and sungold cherry tomatoes of the season are showing up, I made it this weekend too!
Serves 4? I'm just looking at the chopped veggies minus the corn and that alone could be a side for 8. Alas, it is delicious and makes a seriously healthy side dish for a large gathering. Thanks :)
recipe looks great - I think a big wachau smaragd veltliner is simply too heavy for a dish like this (the hirtzberger probably has close to 14% alcohol) - much better would be a younger crisp federspiel veltliner such as 2007 nikolaihof "im weingebirge" (around 11%)
Paul-
In answer to your question -- no, you don't have to cook the corn whatsoever. Good white summer corn is perfectly delicious raw.
Of course, that begs the question of whether it's even *more* delicious if you *do* cook it a bit... I leave that to the experts. ;-)
hmmm. it looks incredibly fresh but.... shouldnt you cook the corn at least a little. Like steam for a few minutes?
This looks amazing, hurray for corn season!
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The ingredients came almost entirely from the farmers' market.
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Even husking corn is fun! (Although husking is great activity for interested children...)
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Drying the grape tomatoes, just like we did the blueberries a few weeks ago, gently in a kitchen towel.
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Now, the recipe called for two quarts of grape tomatoes. This is a lot of tomatoes. Luckily, there'a trick for slicing all the little buggers in half. First, get two lids (deli or quart container lids work great) that are the same size, and fill one of the lids with tomatoes...
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Cover them with the other, inverted, lid.
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And while applying even pressure, slice between the lids. A very sharp chef's knife works well, as does a serrated knife. You're left with perfectly halved tomatoes in roughly one millionth of the time.
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We chose to use the optional quart of sugar snap peas, but we didn't use them raw, instead we blanched them for 2-3 minutes in boiling, salted water. If the sugar snaps are gorgeous and perfectly fresh, they'd be great raw, but ours weren't quite as perfect as we would have liked, and blanching them made all the difference.
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After shaving the kernels off, Merrill was sure to scrape the cobs with the back of her knife, to get all the corn milk out of the cob.
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Once the sugar snaps were blanched, we peeled off their strings, and cut them in thirds.
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After tossing all the vegetables together, we seasoned (guess how...) and used 4T of balsamic vinegar.
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As the salad sat, the corn released some its juices, dressing it a bit. It was lovely.
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Finished!
Kristen is the Senior Editor of food52.
added 9 months ago1. Gorgeous photo.
2. Delicious.