Corn Salad with Mint

Bad lighting, good salad

My cousin made this once and I loved it. So summery and refreshing. Since we’ve had about 75 days over 100 this summer (peaking at 112 degrees on Sunday, while I was at a hot sauce festival trying to survive the deadly ghost pepper), “summery and refreshing” is exactly what I was craving.  This recipe originally came from In Style Magazine.

On Mondays, we play ultimate frisbee with a group of friends and only get home after 9.  So, we’ve been trying to do “Slow Cooker Mondays.”  We had a brisket going in the slow cooker, which I planned on eating taco- style- I do live in Northern Mexico now, after all. I thought this corn salad would compliment the meal well and make it a little lighter.

The mint is really the star of this show- it makes it so fresh and light. I really need to get a mint plant, especially since they are so easy to grow. However, all of its herb cousins are telling me (by way of their withering little bodies) that summer in Austin is not the time to grow anything. I did luck out and was able to get the tomatoes, cucumbers, and mint from the farmers’ market.  Everything just tastes so much better when it comes from there!

Ingredients

3 ears of corn (3 cans would probably work well too, drained and rinsed)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 TBsp mint leaves, torn or whole
1/2 medium red onion, sliced
1 cucumber, diced
3 TBSP olive oil
juice of one lemon
salt
pinch of red pepper flakes
Provolone Cheese, cut into small cubes.  I probably used 2 or 3 oz. (optional)

Recipe

{corn}

Soak the corn in water for 10-15 minutes.  Then, remove the silk from inside the husks.  Grill it (with or without the husks) until cooked; you can boil it if you don’t have a grill. Once it cools, slice the kernels off the cob.

{tomatoes, cucumber, mint, onion}

Toss the corn, tomatoes, and cucumbers together. Then, add mint and onion and toss again.

{olive oil, lemon juice, salt, red pepper flake, cheese}

Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and red pepper together to make a dressing.  Pour it on top of the salad, add the cheese on top, and toss everything together. Best when served immediately.