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Roasted corn salad ideal for cookout

Recipe: Chopped veggies in a light vinaigrette can cope with heat

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Kathy Morrison PUBLISHED MAY 30, 2021

Ready for the cookout: This colorful salad can be

served cold or room temperature. (Photos:

Kathy Morrison)

Oh, that forecast! Why did the hottest day of the month have to be Memorial Day? Anyone planning an outing or (fully vaccinated) home gathering Monday will have to factor in that predicted 104-degree or higher weather. And of course around here the temperature peaks just as you're getting ready to prepare or serve dinner.

This salad is my suggestion for the cookout table. The only cooking required can be done ahead, most of the vegetables are raw, and the dressing does not contain risky-in-heat mayonnaise. The salad can be served cold or room temperature, and is versatile enough to tweak to family tastes.

The base is the wonderful fresh corn now coming into market. The ears are roasted under the broiler or on the grill, and the roasted kernels stripped off to become the dominant vegetable in the salad. Also in there for color and texture are red bell pepper, celery, red onion and cucumber; easy additions or substitutions could include sun-dried tomatoes, sliced olives or chopped carrots. The thyme could be switched out for fresh basil or parsley, too.

Four ears of bicolor corn went into this
recipe.

Roasted corn salad

Makes 4-6 servings; easily doubled

Ingredients:

4 or 5 ears of corn, husked

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

2 or 3 celery stalks, quartered lengthwise and diced

1 cucumber, peeled and seeded, then diced

1/2 large red onion, diced

Other possible additions: 1/2 cup or more sliced sun-dried tomatoes; 1 cup sliced olives; 3/4 cup diced or shredded raw carrots

Dressing:

Leaves from 1 bunch of fresh thyme, roughly chopped (1 generous tablespoon), plus more leaves for garnish if desired

This is the supporting cast. I used about half the

thyme in that bunch, which was just trimmed off
the plant.

1/3 cup cider vinegar

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Preheat the broiler or the grill. Brush the ears of corn with the 2 tablespoons olive oil and broil or grill until they're roasted on all sides, turning frequently to avoid burning. (Corn has a lot of sugar and can burn quickly) Let cool.

Combine the chopped bell pepper, cucumber, red onion and celery in a large bowl.

Whisk together the cider vinegar and about 1/2 cup of the olive oil, the thyme leaves, about 1/4 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper. Taste, and add more olive oil if desired, and correct the seasonings to taste.

Add a touch of salt and several grinds of pepper to the veggies already in the bowl, if desired. (I like pepper with corn, so I tend to use a lot.)

The corn cools after roasting. Use tongs to turn them

often while they're cooking.

Cut the kernels off the cooled cobs and stir them into the bowl with the other veggies. Re-whisk the dressing and pour about half of it over the vegetables, mixing thoroughly.

Taste and add more dressing or more salt and pepper as desired.

Cover and chill the salad until ready to serve. (One hour at least is best for flavors to meld.)

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes Sacramento produce management holiday cooking summer cooking gardening vegetables farmers markets heat summer vegetables backyard produce triple-digit temperatures

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 2

Get out early in the morning and monitor your garden’s moisture needs. Deep water and add temporary shade structures for plants that are feeling a little burned. In particular, protect developing peppers and eggplant.

* Put off fertilization until this heat passes; plants need to concentrate on hydration instead of growth.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don’t let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Pinch off dead flowers from perennials and annuals to lengthen their summer bloom.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips. Make sure to keep seeds and seedlings consistently moist.

* Plant potatoes.

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