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Corn straight from the cob, ripe cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil dressed with a simple cider and oil vinaigrette. A perfect combination of summer’s sweetest, freshest, most delicious flavors!
Fresh Corn And Cherry Tomato Salad – Summer On A Plate!
Yesterday, one of my daughters-in-love forwarded an article about the health benefits of corn. In addition to lutein and zeaxanthin, which is good for your eyes, corn also contains 3.5 grams of plant protein per serving.
Good to know!
But honestly, it doesn’t take any urging to convince me to eat fresh corn. If I had to choose between a homemade chocolate brownie or an ear of fresh corn on the cob, I’d probably go for the corn.
This time of year, the choice is even easier to make.
Especially if sweet, fresh corn is combined with garden-ripe cherry tomatoes and dressed with a light and lovely vinaigrette.
Locally grown corn has just arrived in our supermarket, and I already had a few ears in the fridge. So, when I woke up today and saw that my cherry tomato plants were loaded with bright red globes that were literally ripe for the picking, I got very excited!
This beautiful Fresh Corn and Cherry Tomato salad isn’t just beautiful to look at and easy to make; it’s also the perfect combination of summer’s best flavors.
What Do You Need To Make Fresh Corn And Cherry Tomato Salad?
One of the wonderful things about cooking with garden-fresh vegetables is that they do most of the work for you. The best policy is to keep things simple and stick with a few ingredients that will enhance the flavors, not get in their way.
That’s why you’ll only need a few ingredients to make this Fresh Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad, including….
- Fresh corn
- Cherry tomatoes
- Fresh basil leaves
- Shallots
- Olive oil
- Apple cider vinegar
- Dijon mustard
- Sugar
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
Making Fresh Corn And Cherry Tomato Salad – Tips And Subs
Corn
Obviously, the main ingredient in this salad is fresh corn. Note that I said fresh! Canned or frozen corn won’t taste nearly as good.
The corn is the only ingredient here that you really have to cook. That will remove the starchiness and make the kernels tender. While you could cook the whole cob in a big pot of boiling water for a few minutes before slicing off the kernels, I have an easier method.
First, I slice the kernels from the cob using a sharp knife. Be sure to slice off just the kernels, not the woody cob. Then, I bring about a half-inch of salted water to boil in a skillet, toss in the kernels and let them cook for 3 minutes, then drain off the water.
This method is so much quicker and easier!
Not only does it save me time because I’m not waiting for that big pot of water to boil, but it also prevents me from burning my fingers while handling hot cooked corn.
Cherry Tomatoes
Any variety of cherry tomatoes will do here. You can even mix varieties if you like. Just make sure they are ripe and as fresh as possible.
After rinsing with cool water and plucking off the stems, slice the tomatoes in half. That makes them easier to eat.
Basil
I love the bright, slightly grassy flavor of fresh basil in this salad. But if you don’t have any on hand, you could also use other herbs, such as parsley or cilantro. Even a little fresh thyme could be nice here. But I would stay away from more strongly flavored herbs, such as rosemary.
If you do use basil, you’ll want to slice the leaves into very thin ribbons, also known as chiffonade.
Chiffonade? O-la-la! Sounds fancy, right?
But really, it’s easy to do.
Layer a few of the leaves on top of each other, then roll them up into a cylinder shape—kind of like rolling a cigar. Then, use a sharp knife to make thin cuts crossways over the cylinder, slicing off those pretty green little ribbons of basil.
Shallots
Shallots are my first choice for this fresh corn and basil salad. They’ve got a milder, somewhat sweeter flavor than regular onions, so they won’t overpower the other ingredients.
However, you could also use sliced green onions here. In a pinch, you could use a regular white or red onion, but I would make sure you diced them very small. Otherwise, the sharp flavor would be a little too much.
Vinaigrette
This is just a simple oil and vinegar dressing made with really basic ingredients almost anyone would have on hand. I think it’s pretty perfect as is.
But one of the things that’s perfect about it is that it’s also pretty forgiving.
In a pinch, you could sub vegetable oil for olive oil, or rice vinegar for apple cider vinegar. You could use regular mustard instead of Dijon too.
I like a lot of pepper in my dressing, but you can cut it back if you like. I use just a little bit of sugar to help bring out the sweetness in the corn. But if you’re avoiding sugar, you can leave it out. Or, you could use a touch of honey in place of the sugar.
Looking for great summer corn recipes? Check out my Homemade Mexican Street Corn or Cucumber, Corn, and Tomato Salad with Easy Avocado Dressing!
Print
Fresh Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 3 large ears fresh corn, cooked kernels sliced from cob (see post for easy prep suggestion)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 10 large fresh basil leaves, sliced into thin ribbons (see post for prep suggestion)
- 1 shallot, peeled and diced small
- For the dressing:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
Instructions
- Place cooked fresh corn kernels, sliced cherry tomatoes, basil ribbons, and diced shallot together in a medium-sized serving bowl.
- In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper.
- Pour dressing over salad, stir gently to coat salad and distribute ingredients. Serve immediately or store covered in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
