Sweet Corn Salad

OK, so it's been a while. And I suspect my little cadre of readers would like to know about the fate of my paper, the health of my dog, my thoughts on the election. However, this blog is about me getting to enjoy writing, and what I really want to write about is food. Let's all say it together: "mmmm...food."

I'm heading to a potluck tonight, and after considering many possibilities (mostly concerning a pair of beets that are getting no younger in my crisper bin), I decided on a sweet corn salad. Have you encountered this entity? It's sometimes also served as a relish, but I think it's so delicious that I eat it by the spoonful, so I figured I might as well serve it as a salad.

Here's my version:

6 ears of squeakin' fresh sweet corn (Farmer's Market)
2 tomatoes (1 orange from the garden and 1 red heirloom from the market), chopped
1/2 a red onion, diced pretty fine (no one likes a big hunk of onion in their salad)
3 stalks of celery, diced
6-8 basil leaves, julienned (cilantro would also be delicious here)
1/4 cup of olive oil (but good corn oil would be good, too)
3 or so T rice vinegar (cuz that's what I had that wasn't balsamic, but you could use any other light vinegar or lime juice)
S&P

Shuck each ear of corn and then cut the kernels off into a deep bowl with a sharp knife. Add the onion, celery, tomatoes, and basil and mix. Mix up a dressing with the olive oil, vinegar, S&P. My measurements are VERY approximate, since I do this by eye. Just mix and taste and add, until it tastes right. The corn is quite sweet, so it's OK to have the dressing on the tart side. Add the dressing to the salad, mix it all up, and taste some more. Adjust your dressing til the whole thing tastes so good you want to pull up a chair and spoon and finish the bowl.

Now you may be wondering, can I really serve corn that hasn't been cooked? My answer, dear reader, is a resounding YES!! When sweet corn is really fresh and delicious (like it is right now), it needs no cooking. If you doubt me, be brave and eat a bite right off an ear before you cook it. You'll ask yourself, why have I been wasting time boiling water all these years? Mostly to get the darned thing hot enough so the butter melts on it. Now, there's nothing wrong with cooking your corn (who doesn't like melted butter??!!!). All I'm saying is that you don't HAVE to.

So give this salad a try. This recipe makes a lot, because if you're going to the trouble of slicing and dicing, you might as well enjoy the fruits of your labor for a few days - it's probably about 8 generous portions.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.