Summertime Corn Salad

One of my favorite parts of summertime is the Jersey fruits and vegetables. Peaches, blueberries, tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, zucchini, etc…I love them all.

Luckily, my dad is a tad obsessed with gardening, so I usually have an abundance of veggies and fruit during the summer months. The only downside to this is the amount that J Diddy gives us. When I ask for one cantaloupe, he shows up with five. A half dozen tomatoes ends up being a whole bushel.

Recently, J Diddy gave us a bunch of corn. I decided to make a simple corn salad. Amazingly, Owen slept peacefully the entire time that I was preparing it. I think he knew not to interrupt me while I was busy in the kitchen with a chopping knife.

Here’s what you’ll need for the fresh corn salad:
5-6 ears of corn
1 bell pepper
2-3 tomatoes
1 red onion
1 cucumber
Handful of fresh basil
About 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
½ cup of apple cider vinegar
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of sugar
Salt and pepper

First, husk the corn and then cook the naked ears in boiling water for about 5 minutes.

Using a knife, cut the kernels from the ears into a bowl.

Yum. I love sweet corn, especially when it’s super fresh and not starchy. It really is a special skill to be able to know the perfect time to pick corn so that it’s just right.

Next, chop all the vegetables (pepper, onion, tomatoes, and cucumber) and add them to the corn kernels.

Then mince the basil and thyme and add them to the bowl too.

I’m proud to say that these fresh herbs are from my own garden. This is the first summer that I’ve ever been successful at growing basil. Kind of ironic that I finally have copious amounts of basil to cook with during a summer when I barely have time to cook, thanks to Baby O.

Basil is sort of like garlic to me – I’ll add it to anything and I’m not afraid to use a lot. So add as much as you want to the corn mixture.

Once the veggies and herbs are ready and hanging out together in the bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar and sugar. Pour it over the veggies, season with salt and pepper, and gently toss until everything is well mixed.

Sorry I have no photos of the oil and vinegar mixture – I momentarily forgot to document for the blog. Oops.

Anyhoo, here’s the final product. Doesn’t it look so pretty and fresh?

This corn salad can be served as a side dish, but also as a salsa or topping. Serve it topped on grilled salmon, chicken or shrimp. Add it to a couple cups of cooked pasta for a delicious summer pasta salad. Simply serve it as a salsa with tortilla chips. Use it as a hot dog topping.

You get the idea. It’s very versatile. Plus it’s super nutritious and low in calories (possibly the first healthy thing I’ve posted on this blog). So dig in!