Healthy and Delicious: Fresh Corn Salad
Editor's note: Ladies and gents, it's time to introduce you to a new voice here at Serious Eats. Meet Kristen Swensson, the proprietor of the blog Cheap, Healthy Good. We loved what she was doing there and asked her to work her magic here once a week. She'll be by on Mondays with an inexpensive, healthy recipe for you. Enjoy!
Being from northwest Ohio, my boyfriend loves sweet corn like most people love their mothers. His small town was situated in the middle of a cornfield, and his family ate corn with almost every summer meal. If I’m not mistaken, his elementary school was also built entirely of cornhusks, and every year, Santa Corn brought him Corn Patch Kids and Trans-corn-ers for Christmas.
I can’t quite match his affection for the vegetable, but I try to serve it whenever possible. Lately, my favorite way to do that has been in Fresh Corn Salad from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. Sweet and crisp, it’s a stellar side dish for sandwiches, grilled meats, and other summer fare. Plus, it only costs around $2, and that’s never a bad thing.
I do make two big changes to Ina’s recipe, though: I halve the olive oil and vinegar and reduce the corn by 20 percent. This lightens the dish considerably (to about 75 calories per serving) while still maintaining a good dressing-to-corn ratio. In other words, the fat is cut, but not the flavor.
Though Ina claims the salad can be served immediately, I prefer letting it sit in the fridge overnight. After a few hours, the boyfriend can’t keep out of it. And if I haven’t mentioned, the man knows his corn.
Fresh Corn Salad
- serves 5 –
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten.
Ingredients
4 ears of corn, shucked
1/2 cup small-diced red onion
1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup julienned fresh basil leaves
Procedure
1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the corn for 3 to 5 minutes until the starchiness is just gone. Drain and immerse it in ice water to stop the cooking and to set the color. When the corn is cool, cut the kernels off the cob, cutting close to the cob.
2. Toss the kernels in a large bowl with the red onions, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Just before serving, toss in the fresh basil. Taste for seasonings and serve cold or at room temperature.
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9 Comments:
This sounds really good... does the recipe posted here include the oil and vinegar changes you suggested?
Sisterrae at 11:45AM on 09/08/08
Hi Sister. The recipe does include my changes. I should have noted that somewhere. Hope you like it!
Kristen Swensson at 12:13PM on 09/08/08
I love this recipe. It's a favorite in this house!
Brownie at 4:14PM on 09/08/08
I too am from a small northwest town in Ohio and grew up eating my fair share of sweet corn.
This recipe sounds great and I can't wait to try it.
Thanks for sharing!
Sarahbeek at 9:04PM on 09/08/08
I adore corn and I'm always looking for new ways to serve it, although I must admit, boiled corn on the cob is still my favorite. This sounds like a wonderful recipe and I can't wait to try it while corn is so plentifull and inexpensive.
One thing, I was always told that boilling corn in salted water made it tough. I boil mine with just a pinch of sugar, probably just a southern thing.
I look forward to more of your recipes.
1gourmet at 12:36PM on 09/09/08
I simply love this corn salad recipe. I am from northwestern Ohio as well & now live in Indiana. Girl, I know about the corn. Thanks for sharing.
MsFran at 4:12PM on 07/01/09
My version is slightly different, adding diced zucchini and red bell peppers for more color and texure:
6 ears fresh sweet corn
2 small zuccini, cut into small dice
1 red bell pepper, cut into small dice
1 small red onion, cut into small dice
1/2 cup white vinegar
4 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
small bunch fresh dill, chopped
kosher salt & fresh ground pepper
In a large stockpot, blanch the corn in rapidly boiling water for 5 min. Remove the corn and place in bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Using a sharp knife, remove the corn kernels and scrape the corn “milk” from the cobs into a mixing bowl. Add the zuccini, pepper, onion, and chopped dill to the corn.
Whisk together the vinegar, sugar, mustard, 1/2 tsp. salt, and a pinch of fresh ground pepper to make a dressing. Pour over the salad and toss. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. Will keep 2–3 days in the refrigerator.
salpico at 12:20AM on 07/03/09
I didn't grow up in the heart of corn country, but I love corn, and this sounds fantastic. Obviously it would be at its best with fresh corn, but could you sub canned and get comparable results? If so, does anyone know approximately how many ears of corn are in a can?
This recipe also sounds like a great base to build on, I can picture all kinds of fresh veggies tasting great in this! Red peppers and zucchini like above, or even broccoli, cucumber, radish, tomatoes...
Evelyn at 5:09AM on 07/03/09
Like salpice, I like a little more color, so I use edamame for green and roasted Hatch chiles for red, which gives a nice kick to the whole dish as well. I also prefer the corn roasted to boiled/blanched.
tnword at 2:11AM on 07/04/09