Fresh Corn Salad

With August comes peak local fruit and vegetable season. Just about anything you’re in the mood for can probably be found at a farm stand or the farmers market here in the Valley. Peaches, tomatoes, green beans, peppers, onions, melons, cauliflower, green beans and so much more is grown right here and widely available.

One of my favorite things to do is hit the downtown Yakima Farmer’s Market on Sundays, loading up on fresh fruit and whatever vegetables strike me that week. In the last few weeks, I’ve bought purple cauliflower, zucchini blossoms, gorgeous local salad greens, donut peaches, fat nectarines, yellow seedless watermelon and a flat of perfectly ripe, bright red strawberries. I love coming home with items I can’t grow in my own backyard garden and it always makes for an epic meal on Sunday nights.

I’ve always leaned heavily on simple straightforward recipes, but this time of year, that commitment turns up a notch. When the ingredients are spectacular all on their own, little is needed to enhance them other than a little patience to wash, chop and assemble.

This fresh corn salad recipe is all the best flavors of August in one simple dish. Fresh corn is cut straight off the cob and into a salad bowl. Corn is combined with sweet crunchy bell pepper and a bit of tender zucchini. Pulling the flavors together and making everything pop is just a dash of sugar and apple cider vinegar and then lots of fresh basil.

I remember a friend bringing me a version of this salad years and years ago after I’d just had one of my babies. It was so fresh, crunchy, flavorful and delicious that I immediately begged her for the recipe. She couldn’t remember quite how she’d made it and basically told me to throw corn and a few veggies in a bowl and call it good. I ran with her casual approach and this particular recipe was born out of a few tries to nail her original recipe.

As soon as corn is readily available, this salad goes into heavy rotation around our house. I often have a double batch made for the week and we eat it alongside grilled chicken, steak, sausages or hot dogs. Everyone in my family likes it and even better, it uses up some of the never-ending zucchini being pumped out of my garden on the daily.

The great thing about a summer salad like this is you can tweak this recipe so easily to fit your family’s preferences. Cherry tomatoes would be a lovely add or you could skip the feta cheese altogether or swap it for crumbled goat cheese. Flat leaf parsley could stand in for basil and any color of bell pepper would work just fine. And finally, if you want a little heat, a seeded finely diced jalapeño would add lots of flavor and a little spice to this already lovely dish. Whatever you find at the farmers market, is probably going to be a lovely.

Final tip: if raw vegetables are a little hard on your stomach, you can sauté the corn, onion, red bell pepper and zucchini in a little olive oil until the onion is translucent and the corn is softened a bit, usually about six to eight minutes. Allow the vegetables to cool for a few minutes, transfer to a bowl and continue with the recipe as written. Go wild!

Fresh Corn Salad

• 5 ears yellow corn

• 1 red bell pepper

• 1/2 sweet onion

• 1 small zucchini

• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 2-3 tablespoons fresh basil

• Kosher salt and black pepper

Shuck the corn and using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the cob. Finely dice the red bell pepper, sweet onion and zucchini. Add all the vegetables to a large bowl and give it a mix. Drizzle the olive oil, granulated sugar, apple cider vinegar along with a big pinch of salt and pepper over the vegetables, stirring again until well-combined. Top with the feta cheese and fresh basil. Taste to make sure the salad doesn’t need a little more salt or pepper. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. Store extras in the refrigerator for up to three days. Serves 6.

*If corn on the cob is out of season, a bag of frozen corn works just fine. For an ‘off-season’ version of this recipe, use a bag of frozen corn and throw all the ingredients other than the feta cheese in a large sauté pan. Cook on medium heat until the onion is translucent and the veggies are slightly tender, about five minutes. Transfer to a bowl, let cool to room temperature and then sprinkle with the feta cheese and fresh basil.