I love simple summer salads that use just a few ingredients and taste incredibly fresh. This corn and tomato salad is one of those dishes. There’s minimal cooking involved and it’s fast to put together. Sweet corn and ripe, juicy tomatoes are two summer vegetable that are made for each other. They are summer in a bowl.
This corn and tomato salad is the perfect summer side dish for a light lunch on the patio – just add some crunchy french bread and a cheese plate and you’ve got an lovely, simple lunch. This dish is also easy to pack up and use as a side dish for a picnic, potluck with friends or a day at the beach.
A couple of notes:
You’ll need to cook the corn quickly and then plunge it in to an ice bath. An ice bath is a large bowl filled with ice and water – you need to fill the bowl halfway up with ice and then add the water. When you add the corn to the ice bath it will stop the corn from continuing to cook. Leave it in the ice bath for a couple of minutes so the corn cools completely. The corn will probably be floating in the water – don’t forget to turn/roll them a few times so all sides of the corn cool down.
When cutting corn from the cob, cut down and away from yourself so there’s no chance of slipping and cutting yourself by accident.
Before mincing the red onion, put the slice of onion in a little bowl of water to soak for a couple of minutes. This takes away some of the harsh raw onion flavor.
Adapted from this recipe from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.
PrintCorn and Tomato Salad
A quick and easy summer salad using fresh summer vegetables – sweet corn and juicy, ripe tomatoes.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 3 mins
- Total Time: 13 minutes
- Yield: 4 as a side salad 1x
Ingredients
- 3 ears of corn
- 2 medium sized tomatoes
- 2 tbs of minced red onion
- 1 large handful of parsley minced
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs white wine vinegar
- 6 twists of black pepper from a pepper mill
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Boil the corn for 3 minutes (no longer).
- Remove the corn and plunge into large bowl filled with ice and water.
- Dice your tomatoes while the corn is cooling off in the ice water. Add diced tomatoes to a bowl.
- Cut corn from the cob and add to the bowl of tomatoes.
- Add minced red onion and minced parsley to the corn and tomatoes.
- Pour olive oil, white wine vinegar and black pepper into a small bowl and whisk to combine.
- Pour dressing over the corn and tomatoes and toss.
LuAnn West
Delicious salad is summer in a bowl. Blanching corn for 3 minutes is exactly how my mother taught me to prepare for the freezer. Some other tips from my farmer’s wife mother who raised five kids on food she and my dad raised: cut the corn off the cob in a deep bowl or dishpan and run the back of the knife over the cob after you’ve removed the corn. This captures the most tender part of the kernel that can often be left behind after the first cut. It also releases the ‘milk’ from the cob. She wasted nothing!
Geraldine
Thanks for all the tips, LuAnn! Much appreciated!
Amelia
Gotta try this. It looks yummy!
Geraldine
Thanks, Amelia. Hope you enjoy it. Have a great day!
Traci | Vanilla And Bean
I love how you blanched the corn in this recipe! It really brings out the sweetness of the corn, and yields a nice crunch. And pairing the corn with tomatoes… AND a splash of white wine! I can see how this would be a perfect addition to a summer picnic! Thank you, Geraldine! Pinned.
Geraldine
Hi Traci – you’re right – cooking the corn briefly really does makes the difference with this recipe – otherwise the corn would be too starchy. I had to stop myself from eating most of it standing at the kitchen counter :). Have a good one!