Recipe: Herbed Sweet Corn and Tomato Salad

There aren't many summer dishes as pure as a sweet corn and tomato salad. It's summer eating at its more blissful: sweet and crunchy, juicy and tangy. And so easy too!

This has been our go-to salad for a couple weeks now, ever since the garden tomatoes really got going. It's a wonderful way to showcase their bright flavor against sweet, tender corn — crisp and juicy. We love the tang of a little fresh goat cheese, and the flavors of herbs.

This is just a rough recipe, of course; this kind of summer salad is practically a genre all its own. Take whatever you have on hand and just mix it up into something that tastes good to you.

Herbed Sweet Corn and Tomato Salad

serves 6

6 ears fresh sweet corn, shucked
4 medium tomatoes, as ripe as possible
1/4 cup (or small handful) fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup (or small handful) fresh mixed herbs — like Italian parsley, basil, rosemary, sage
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste
3 ounces soft goat cheese, chilled and crumbled

Bring a large pot of water to the boil over medium-high heat. Add the corn and boil for five minutes. Drain and let cool.

Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes in quarters and scrape or squeeze out the juices and seeds. (Reserve, if you want, for a future batch of tomato sauce, or to mix into cream cheese for a fresh sandwich spread.) Chop the seeded tomato quarters into a rough dice. Pat dry with a paper towel to remove any extra moisture.

When the corn has cooled, stand each ear up in a wide, shallow bowl and slice the corn kernels off with a chef's knife. Toss the corn with the tomatoes.

Finely mince the mint and herb leaves and toss with the vegetables, along with the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then crumble in the goat cheese and toss gently. Serve and enjoy!

Note: Of course this is good with many other mix-ins too; we added a few cubes of grilled eggplant to this salad. Sometimes we like pinenuts or a touch of balsamic vinegar.

(Images: Faith Durand)

Comments (9)

Looks good! My go-to salad this summer has been one with avocado, corn & tomato!

Looks delicious!

we make a version of this about every 3 days once the tomatoes start coming in, dressing it with just olive oil and lime juice. We never cook the corn though. There's no need when sweet corn is delicious and crunchy right off the cob.

I've just had this for lunch and it was delicious. Thanks for the recipe!

If you are able, please post the recipies in a form that is printer friendly;excludes everything but the recipie. Thanks.

I've been making Merideth's version with olive oil and lime juice this summer with quinoa and avocado!

alyssabean, add cilantro, one finely diced seeded jalapeno, chili powder -- a Tex-Mex version

i made this recipe with my CSA corn and heirloom tomatoes from my community garden and it was really good. however, i felt like it was missing some texture so i added bacon (guilty smile) and it was even better. the salty bacon cut the sweetness of the 2 other ingredients better than the goat cheese i think. i also think maybe some picked red onions would be nice - add a little kick as well.

This is my summer go-to recipe for pot-lucks. Everyone loves it, and people always want to know who made it and what's in it (the mix of herbs makes it so unusual).