Fresh sweet corn salad

I've had corn coming out my ears this week. Okay that's a little corny... (Sorry I couldn't help myself!) We have had a lot of corn around here. The first of the sweet corn in our area is ripe for the picking. Over the week-end I got 3 cases of really nice sweet corn. My mom and I decided to put up some corn this year. This is something she always did when I was growing up. It was a family event, all the kids helped out. I always dreaded corn freezing day. It meant spending all day husking corn, outside, hot, with sticky hands. She'd get several hundred ears of corn and we'd all spend a whole day working to get it put in the freezer. As a child I never thought I'd actually want to freeze corn.
Now that I'm an adult I find myself looking forward to getting that wonderful sweet corn and preserving it for later. So mom and I put up 33 quarts of corn on Saturday. Now Dad does all the husking. Yeah! That's the part I still don't like to do.
We didn't freeze all the corn however. I kept out several ears to eat fresh. We had some plain old corn on the cob. One of my favorite things but I wanted to do something a little more creative with some of the corn. I decided on making a corn salad. Really fresh seasonal ingredients are the key to this salad. I made it to accompany grilled chicken and we loved it so much I made it again to go with our burgers the next night.

Fresh Sweet Corn Salad
(Print Recipe)

Ingredients nocoup

5 ears of corn, husked
1/2 cup small-diced red onion
1/2 cup of chopped tomato (one medium tomato)
1/2 cup feta cheese, diced or crumbled
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Large handful of fresh basil leaves, julienned

Directions

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the corn for 3 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.

Toss the kernels in a large bowl with the red onions, tomato, feta, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Just before serving, toss in the fresh basil. Taste for seasonings and serve cold or at room temperature.

I used an heirloom tomato from my parents farm but any really ripe fresh tomato will be fine.

For step-bystep instructions on how to freeze corn, visit our Waterberry Farm blog