Corn!

Every year, I wait for it with baited breath: corn season. While it does signal the waning dog days of summer, it’s always a celebration of what makes summer great. Farm fresh produce at its best. Just picked. Plop the little golden ears in boiling water. A little butter. A little salt. Et voila! The simplest ingredients make for some fabulous eats.

In the last few years, there has been a push to grill corn with funky ingredients like chipotle peppers, cilantro and lime, chili powder and queso fresco, or even mayonnaise. But I am a purist when it comes to corn. Much like my attitude about a lot of foods, if it’s fresh then it’s great all by itself. No need to adulterate it. (To further illustrate the point, you have unleashed the third ring of Hell if you put drawn butter on fresh lobster. That’s for crazy people with no taste. Just FYI.)

I love all varieties of corn on the cob. Although there’s something to be said of the ubiquitous Butter & Sugar kind, there’s nothing better than an ear of Silver Queen. The platinum blonde of the corn world, she is succulent, crisp, and sweet all at the same time.

Regardless of variety, it is highly unlikely for corn to go uneaten in my house. However, there are times when our eyes have been bigger than our stomachs and we have leftover corn. What to do? Corn salad. I usually scrape the kernels off the cob into a bowl, mix it with some form of acid, add a few other crunchy veg, and add salt and pepper.

This recipe is a go-to for me:

4-5 ears of corn, cooked and cooled

2 small limes, zested and juiced

2 tsp. fresh cilantro

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 small jalapeños

Salt and pepper to taste

Carefully slice kernels off the cob into a bowl. (Best to lob off the tip so that you’ve got a flat surface to balance while scraping.) Add the peppers and cilantro. Dust with salt and pepper. Add the juice and zest. Mix and serve.

Enjoy the last bits of summer with all the corn you can eat!