Grilled corn and peach salad

Creamy cilantro dressing jazzes up summer produce!

I love this salad for so many reasons. It’s colourful, flavourful, nutritious and – perhaps best of all – can easily be prepared ahead of time. While grilling the corn adds some delicious smoky notes to the salad, if that’s not feasible you can simply cook the corn on the cob using your favourite method then strip the kernels off for the salad. And if you can’t find ripe peaches in your local stores, nectarines are a great substitute and I think plums might work well also, provided they are not too sour.

Ingredients

Salad:

• 3-4 ears corn on the cob
• 1  1/2 cups (340 g) peeled, diced ripe peaches  
• 1 cup (175 g) diced orange pepper
• 1 cup (150 g) diced English or Lebanese cucumber
• 1 cup (180 g) quartered grape or cherry tomatoes
• few pinches sea salt
• handful shredded basil leaves, to serve
• lime wedges, to serve

Creamy lime dressing:

• 2 tablespoons (28 g) mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) olive oil
• 1 tablespoon (4 g) very finely chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder (or more, to taste)
• Few pinches garlic powder
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

• Grill the corn first. Preheat grill/barbeque to medium heat. Shuck the corn and rub lightly with olive oil.
• When grill is hot, place corn directly on the grate and cook, turning occasionally. Corn is done when kernels are tender (test with the tip of a sharp knife) and corn is lightly charred (8-10 minutes). Remove corn from grill.
• While corn is grilling, make the dressing by placing all ingredients in a small jar with a tight lid. Shake well, then taste and add more salt, pepper or chili powder to suit your tastes.
• Once the corn has cooled slightly, strip or slice the kernels off of the grilled corn. Measure out 3 cups of kernels and place in a large bowl. Add the diced peaches, orange pepper, cucumber and tomatoes, along with a few pinches of salt. Toss gently, then drizzle the dressing over top and toss again.  Salad can be refrigerated at this point for up to four hours; toss again before proceeding.
• Immediately before serving, scatter basil over top and serve with lime wedges on the side.

Serves 4-6.