farmers’ market monday: grilled corn salad.

So my Farmer’s Market Monday post comes a little late this Monday. It’s Memorial Day here in The States and I couldn’t help it. I won’t lie and say I was so busy going to parties and cooking up a storm and what have you…no; we had too much fun stuff to do. I did some kitchen necessity (and not-so-essentials) shopping, hit the thrift stores, tried to build a little summer wardrobe for my annual 3 week vacation – more about that in future posts, because I’m taking all of you along with me this year. we celebrated my sister’s birthday with a crazy amazing cake, and I taught her how to make Jennie at The Messy Baker’s maple-nut granola and my favorite basil-walnut pesto recipe (which I really should post); two good things to have under your belt year-round, in my opinion. So yes, we did a wee bit of cooking, but mostly, we had fun. hopefully you don’t notice the lateness of this post too much; you should be drinking lemonade poolside anyway. 

This is my offering this week for farmer’s market monday: a grilled corn salad. rather appropriate, as mr. table happily spent the past two days slaving over a grill and enjoying every hot minute of it. It’s all fruit and veggies I gathered at a great farmer’s market not 10 minutes away from me that I fell in love with the minute I walked into the big red barn it is housed in. It’s wonderful, and I plan to return next week for their official “grand opening” for the season. It’s called Rick’s Roadside Market, and here’s a few pictures, with more to come:

This salad tastes through and through like it was meant for hot weather and picnics. You could pair it with anything: I think it would be just as nice with hot dogs and hamburgers as it would be with ribs or steak. it’s not heavy, and provides a nice hot/cold balance between cold summer sides like potato salad or cole slaw. It takes no time to put together; just grill the corn (or have, ahem, someone who knows about grilling do it for you), chop up the rest of the ingredients, and stir together. It’s a warm salad rather than a hot one, so it holds up well outside or in.

I hope all of you had a lovely holiday weekend, and that your weather was nice enough for you to enjoy sometime outside without it melting you into a puddle. It was fair to slightly melty here, but we managed to get outside for evening picnics, garden-tending, and a walk here and there.

Adapted from a Bobby Flay recipe on FoodNetwork.com. Rather, this started out as the basic recipe and grew in vegetables/toppings. the more, the merrier. You can find the original recipe here.

Grilled Corn Salad

• 6-8 ears sweet corn (white, yellow, or bicolor), silk removed, husks on, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes
• 2-3 scallions, greens only, thinly sliced
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 avocados, halved and sliced into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 limes, juiced and 1 zested
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1/3 cup cotija cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup creme fraiche, plus more for serving
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Heat grill to high. Grill corn in husks until charred on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly (you wouldn’t believe how hot that corn can get, especially the cob part). Once cool enough to handle, take a sharp knife and cut kernels off of the cob and place in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, add the zest and juice from the limes, chili powder, and creme fraiche, stirring until combined and smooth. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to put salad together.

When you’re ready to assemble, heat a large skillet over medium-low heat.

Add the tomatoes and scallions to the corn and stir to evenly distribute ingredients. Add the creme fraiche mixture and stir until everything is evenly coated. Season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Pour mixture into warm skillet and add the cotija cheese, heating over low to medium-low heat until warmed through. Depending on how long you wait from grill to table, this could take maybe 3 minutes up until maybe 6-8 minutes if you’re starting at room temperature. Stirring frequently, turn over the mixture in the skillet so it is evenly heated through. Remember: you don’t want this to be hot, just warmed.

Once heated, pour into a large serving bowl and top with remaining cotija cheese (if you want) and 1/4 cup chopped cilantro. Season again with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper if needed, to taste.