Author Notes: Every summer I seem to come across the best of the season’s corn out on the East end of Long Island. Rather than do anything to mar the flavor of the sweet, sweet corn, I make this absurdly easy, very delicious raw corn salad. Truth be told, I wing it with this “recipe” every time — the ingredients and quantities shift slightly based on what’s handy — but the below gives you an approximate idea of the flavors and process.
UPDATE: I just remembered one of my favorite additions to this very flexible recipe… bacon! Or even better, transform it from a light side dish to a hearty entree with grilled and sliced chorizo or italian sausage. —Peter
Food52 Review: This corn salad epitomizes the freshness of summer. Sweet raw corn kernels and their milk mix with the bright acid of tomatoes and the kick of red onion; a hint of balsamic vinegar adds a caramel tang. The flavors mellow and meld as the salad sits for a bit. Peter says they’re optional, but we added both the basil and sugar snaps, blanching the latter briefly in salted boiling water and removing the strings before cutting them in thirds. We upped the balsamic vinegar to 4 tablespoons because we’d added another quart of veggies — you can simply add it to taste. – A&M —The Editors
Serves: 4
Ingredients
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8
ears of white corn
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2
quarts cherry tomatoes
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3
tablespoons high-quality balsamic vinegar
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1
medium red onion
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1
quart sugar snap peas (optional)
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1
handful roughly chopped basil or flat-leaf parsley (optional)
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Salt, preferably a large, coarse sea salt like Maldon.
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Pepper
Directions
- 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.
- Slice all cherry tomatoes in half or quarters depending on your preference.
- Chop the red onion into a large dice.
- If 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 roughly chopped basil or flat-leaf parsley will do the trick.
- Toss all vegetables in a bowl, along with the vinegar, salt, and pepper.
- That’s it. Enjoy!
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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!
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