No matter what your plans this Inter-dependence Day (the clever name comes from a newscaster on CNN), here’s a summer salad to help you celebrate. We don’t have any plans the entire weekend, just more sheltering-in, so I’m doing what I love to do best, cook and bake.
This fabulous recipe is adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi. In truth, it isn’t adapted. It is almost verbatim. But there is one difference. At the end of the recipe, Yotam says to serve the salad warm. He gives you no hints whether you can toss it ahead. He just says toss and serve warm.
I was bringing it to a party and serving it warm wasn’t possible. Making it last minute wasn’t in the cards either. So I served it at room temperature and to say it was a hit would be an understatement. It was enormously popular and the leftovers were still delicious the next day.
So when you are looking for a side dish to go with almost anything—steak, fish, roast chicken, burgers, even a stew, go for this salad. It’s sweet, fresh, zippy flavors will wow you.
CHARRED CORN SALAD WITH MINT, PARSLEY & CILANTRO
4 large ears of corn, shucked
Extra virgin olive oil for brushing corn + 2 tablespoons for dressing
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons torn mint leaves
3 tablespoons torn parsley leaves
3 tablespoons torn cilantro leaves
1. Heat a grill or large grill pan. Brush the corn with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over moderately high heat, turning, until crisp-tender and charred, about 12 minutes. Let cool.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the onion and lime juice and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in the syrup, jalapeño and 2 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Working in a large bowl, cut the kernels off the cobs in sections. Add the onion dressing and toss. Add the mint, parsley and cilantro and toss again.
To prepare ahead: Salad may be held at room temperature for several hours. I like to serve it room temperature, but the original recipe says to serve it warm.
Makes 4 servings.
Recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi
