Avocado and Corn Salad is Summer Cool

Fresh Corn: Cheap, Sweet and Abundant

The temptation is to serve corn on the cob, making it an easy add on to any meal.

But trimmed from the cob, this backyard favorite becomes a stunning side dish, that can stand on its own for any occasion, weekday or holiday.

Russ and Deb introduced me to this salad. “It’s really good!” they said.

With such a hardy endorsement, I gave the recipe a try and they were right.

Try It, You’ll Like It

The salad gets it color from the corn, tomatoes, avocados, feta, and chopped, fresh basil. The rest is just a simple 3 ingredient dressing of olive oil, white wine vinegar, and seasoning.

No need to cook and butter ears of corn at the last minute, when you can serve this salad cold or at room temperature. Because the salad is easy to make and portable, it’s the perfect picnic dish.

My mother’s old, pressed glass bowl adds even more charm to this summer salad.

Many Variations

I’ve learned over the years that recipes were not delivered from the mountaintop on stone tablets. Hmm. . . with the exception of most breads and cakes, that is. Salads are especially flexible and allow for some interpretation by the cook.

Popular Salad

Nearly every food blogger has a version of this corn salad, from Ina Garten (nice video) to David Lebovitz. Some leave out the avocados, replace the green onions with red onions, the Mozzarella with feta or Mexican cotija, or substitute lime juice for the vinegar in the dressing.

Mark Bittman has a funky video at The New York Times. He sautés the cut kernels in bacon drippings for a few minutes, then adds both the crispy bacon and the flavored corn to the dish. I found a recipe at Natasha’s Kitchen website. She also has a brief video to stoke your taste buds.

Vibrant and drool worthy.

Whichever ingredients you decide to use, the salad is best eaten the day it’s made—which isn’t hard to do.

Corn Cooking Tip: When cooking ears of corn for this salad, or for eating on the cob, try adding a tablespoon of sugar to the water if the corn lacks sweetness. Add a cup of milk to the cooking water for tenderness.

Avocado Corn Salad

Ingredients:

1 lb. cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
3 ears of corn, cooked, shucked and cut off the cob
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced
1/2 red onion (medium), thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro or parsley, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 to 3 Tbs. lime juice, from 1 to 2 limes
1 tsp. sea salt, or 3/4 tsp. table salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

In a large salad bowl combine tomatoes, corn kernels, and sliced avocado, thinly sliced red onion, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (to taste or sub parsley). Press in two garlic cloves.
Combine remaining 4 ingredients and lightly dress salad