Fresh Summer Corn Salad

Last weekend was the Green Corn Moon, known by many other names including Strong Sun Moon. We seem to be very ahead of the schedule here in Nova Scotia when it comes to corn. When corn is good here, it is unbelievably good. I bought six cobs of corn for less than $1 which makes this salad an incredible deal.

I boiled four cobs of corn for ten minutes and then put in a large bowl with ice water to cool down.

I learned this trick from Rachael Ray. You nestle a small bowl at the bottom of a deep and wide bowl and brace the corn on top. Slice off the corn kernels with a sharp knife and hopefully the big bowl will catch most of them.

Get a smaller bowl and add finely chopped jalapeño. I removed the seeds and ribs from one jalapeño and chopped it very fine, sometimes I just use half of it depending on the size. If you like heat, keep in the ribs and seeds but I just wanted the flavour, not too much heat. Grate one garlic clove into the dressing.

Add 3 tbsp of vinegar (I used red wine), 3 tbsp of olive oil, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of black pepper and the juice of half a lime. Add the corn, mix together and let sit in the fridge to meld for a little while.

So refreshing! The only problem is I could eat the entire big bowl of this salad. This is also just the bare bones. You could do so much with this recipe. You could add red onion, olives, tomatoes, pasta… just remember that if you add more you will need to make more dressing. If you like your dressings more acidic use more vinegar or if you like more citrus, add more lime juice.

I loved making this salad in honour of the hot and spicy June moon. You get the heat from the jalapeño but the colour of the sun from the corn. Eating with the seasons and with Nature is a beautiful thing and one of the biggest benefits is this recipe literally cost me pennies to make.