Good evening WFD guests! It’s a bit early for such a summer-y salad but we’re having a lovely 80° sunny day and it got me thinking about this salad that I made last fall. I found the recipe over at Serious Eats a couple of years ago and have made it repeatedly with great success. Even if you don’t have fresh corn yet, you could do this with frozen corn on the cob. The combination of herbs is so fresh and vibrant and goes so well with the sweet corn and tangy feta. You definitely want to get fresh herbs, not dried!
Grilled Corn, Tomato, Feta, and Herb Salad
From Serious Eats
- 3 tablespoons best quality extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
- 4 ears sweet corn, husks removed
- 2 pounds ripe tomatoes (see note below), cut into bite-size chunks (as you can see in my photo above I used some lovely Sungold cherry tomatoes and a couple large heirlooms)
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh mint leaves
- 8 ounces feta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Combine olive oil and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange the coals on one side of the charcoal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Alternatively, set half the burners on a gas grill to the highest heat setting, cover, and preheat for 10 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate. To char corn without a grill, see note below.
Place corn directly over hot side of grill and cook, turning occasionally, until charred on all sides and fully tender, about 10 minutes total. Remove corn from grill and allow to rest until cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes.
Working one ear at a time, hold the corn vertically inside a large bowl and use a sharp knife to remove the kernels. Discard the cob. Add tomatoes, parsley, basil, mint, and feta cheese to the bowl. Whisk the dressing and add it to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper and gently fold with clean hands until all the ingredients are incorporated and coated in the dressing. Serve immediately.
Note: For the tomatoes, I like to go for nice, heavy, heirloom varieties like Purple Cherokee or orange Amana tomatoes, along with a few smaller cherry or grape tomatoes. But really, the only key is that the tomatoes must be ripe, and that they must be as local as you can find.
To char corn without a grill, remove raw corn kernels from husk. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large non-stick or cast iron skillet or wok over high heat until shimmering. Add corn, shake once to distribute, and cook without moving until darkly charred on first side, about 3 minutes. Toss and flip corn and repeat until corn is covered in dark spots, about 8 minutes total. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then proceed.
Ninkasi23’s Note: I did not grill my corn nor did I follow the above process. Instead I chose to oven-roast the ears of corn at 375° with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Turn them after about 10 minutes and continue until you have nice golden color on all sides. Then let them cool until you can handle them and cut the kernels off the cob. I like to put a small bowl upside down in a large shallow bowl and then rest the stem end of the cob on the upside down bowl and hold the cob at the top and gently slice downwards. The kernels will fall away into the bowl and you are not fighting against the sides of the bowl as you slice down. Hope that makes sense;)
Talk about summer in a bowl! Great for a side dish along with some grilled meats or just as a veggie main dish. Bring on the summer dishes!
So, what’s for dinner at your table tonight?
date |
diarist |
WFD Schedule
5/14: |
esquimaux |
5/21: |
open |
5/28: |
open |
6/04: |
open |
6/11: |
open |
6/18: |
open |
If you would like to post a story on an open date please send me a kos message or reply to the tip jar! Thanks!