One of the freshest tasting vegetable salads in my rotation: Sweet Corn Salad with a light and creamy dill dressing is full of the season’s finest vegetables – sweet raw corn, crunchy bell peppers, crisp cucumbers – topped with an herby dressing. It’s summer in a bowl!
It feels odd to be writing about fresh, snappy corn-on-the-cob in a week when the thermometer began at 99°F on Saturday (ironically, the hottest day of the year — in September) and then plummeted to the 60’s, where it’s lingered ever since, drizzly and gray. Today, I had a grilled cheese sandwich and hot soup for lunch, and man, it was the warm hug I really needed.
But. There is still much summer vegetable harvesting to be done. Despite the chill, plants are thriving and producing, finally regrouping from the relentless heat of August to send out a second bounty.
And there’s corn (technically not a vegetable, but a grass). Silver Queen and bicolored ears dominate the stands of farmers’ markets all over town. Completely irresistible.
This fresh, beautiful salad is a prime example of how delicious sweet corn is, right off the cob, no cooking. Yes, raw corn!
Corn kernels are perfectly edible in their raw state. They’re wonderfully sweet and crunchy, and, when preparing sweet corn salads like this one, it’s impossible not to sneak kernels from bowl (especially when they come off the cobs in charming rafts).
When I prepare a salad such as this, I always buy extra cobs, and freeze the corn for winter soups.
Not only is this salad gorgeous in the bowl, but it’s dead easy to make. A little chopping is all it takes. Even the dressing is as easy hitting the buttons on the blender.
Visit the local farmers’ market, and make this Sweet Corn Salad for your next cookout or picnic!
Karen xo
Sweet Corn Salad
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 shallot, finely chopped, divided usage
- 3 ears of fresh, raw corn, kernels removed
- 2 pickling cucumbers, diced
- 1 small red bell pepper, diced
- 1 handful fresh dill (about 4 smallish sprigs), minced
- 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, minced
- crumbled Feta cheese, for garnish
For the dressing:
- 1/3 cup buttermilk (low fat is fine)
- 2/3 cups greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoons chopped shallots
- 1 small clove garlic, minced and mashed with a pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh dill
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl toss the corn kernels lightly to separate them, add the shallot and the remaining salad ingredients, tossing again to combine.
- Add the dressing ingredients to a blender, and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Just before serving, toss the salad with dressing, adding a little bit at a time, until all ingredients are lightly coated with dressing. Garnish with feta cheese. Serve the remaining dressing on the side.
Nutrition
adapted from Food52.com
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Rocky Mountain Woman
Friday 9th of September 2011
I love the addition of dill to this! I believe that dill is unappreciated and treated poorly by most cooks....
I can't wait to try this!!
SoupAddict
Friday 9th of September 2011
Dill is without a doubt my favorite herb. The first time I made dill pesto, I thought I had reached some kind of culinary pinnacle. (In fact ... that reminds me ... I've been making basil pesto to freeze, but must remember to make dill as well.) One of the alterations I made to the original recipe was to add dill to the dressing, as well as the salad. Dill + Corn = BFFs.
Cher
Friday 9th of September 2011
I have learned this summer that raw corn is a friend. Who knew?
How do you get so much of the kernel off the cob? Somehow, mine always seem to look like "headless horsemen" with just the little knobbies on top making it.
SoupAddict
Friday 9th of September 2011
Maybe it's the cutting technique? Leave enough of a stalky handle to hold on to when you husk. Stand the ear up in the center of a large bowl and, using a nice sharp knife, let the blade dig a bit into the corn near the "handle" and slice from the top down into the bowl. Twist the ear and repeat.
Your results, however, are halfway to "creamed corn" - way delicious (another falsehood I held as a young adult, believing creamed corn had cream in it, which, to my 20-year-old taste buds, sounded really gross). After removing the kernels the way you did, go back and use the edge of the blade (or, to be safe, another long, flat tool ... an example is escaping me at the moment ... maybe a flat-handled spatula or a dull dinner knife) and drag the edge firmly down over those cut areas. You'll be coaxing out all the creamy insides of the kernel bits left behind. Good stuff!
Jodi Hayward
Friday 9th of September 2011
mmmm, this looks delicious, probably good with goats cheese too! If I'm really lazy, I might use some cans of super sweet corn *ducks head in shame :S* hehe Perth isn't in the corn belt, we're more known for wheat :)
SoupAddict
Friday 9th of September 2011
It would be fantastic with goat cheese! No shame about the corn. I've made this dish so frequently this summer, I've used lots of different corn, including grilled on the cob and frozen. The dressing just brings it all together whatever you've used.