The warmer it gets outside, the less I feel like turning on the oven, so I hope you don’t mind that I have a handful of not-so-sweet recipes planned over these hot summer days. First up is today’s simple corn salad recipe. Made with sweet kernels of fresh corn (and tips on substituting frozen if you’re really feeling lazy… we’ve all been there!) and other garden-fresh veggies including juicy cherry tomatoes, ripe avocado, red onion, cilantro, and a hint of jalapeno for a subtle kick. Let’s talk about the star ingredient here though, the corn:
Right now I have a feeling your local grocery store is probably well-stocked with plenty of fresh corn, and you’ll want to grab 4 healthy looking ears of sweet corn for this recipe. If you can find ambrosia corn, even better!
How Do I Cook the Corn?
Preparing fresh corn for this recipe only takes a few seconds. You’ll remove the husks from the corn and drop each cob (gently, nobody wants to be scalded with a splash of scalding water) into a pot of boiling water. Cook the corn briefly, for just 3 minutes, before removing (I use tongs) to a bowl or strainer and running cold water over the corn to stop it from cooking/over-cooking. Then, cut the corn off the cob, cutting as close to the cob as possible (you can use the bundt-pan method that I shared when I made my corn chowder recipe to keep corn kernels from flying everywhere!).
Can I use Frozen Corn?
I like to use fresh corn to make this corn salad, but frozen would also work (just make sure you grab a sweet variety). This recipe requires 4-5 cups of frozen corn, I usually use a blend of sweet yellow corn and super sweet white corn if using frozen.
After you’ve combined your corn and the rest of your chopped veggies, the next thing you’ll need is a simple olive oil & vinegar based dressing. I used red wine vinegar for this recipe, but if you only have white wine on hand you can substitute that instead, and while I haven’t tried this recipe with other varieties, I have a feeling most vinegars would work just as well.
Serving & Preparing in Advance
Corn salad can be served immediately after mixing all of your ingredients/dressing together, but, if you can, I recommend covering it and placing in the refrigerator for at least an hour to give the flavors the chance to really meld together. This recipe can be made up to a day in advance of serving. I don’t like to make it much before that because if your avocado is particularly ripe it can begin to turn brown if allowed to sit for too long (though the dressing does do a good job of helping to preserve the avocado). Always make sure to give your ingredients a good stir before serving, as the dressing has a tendency to settle to the bottom of the bowl.
If you like this summer salad recipe, you may also want to check out my other favorite summer side dishes:
Million Dollar Deviled Eggs Macaroni Salad Texas Caviar (it’s like a corn salad with beans) Broccoli Salad Ramen Noodle Salad
Enjoy!
