Serves 6-8
This Fourth of July, I cooked almost entirely from the “At Home” section of the NYTimes. (OK, Eric grilled the ribs according to his own recipe.) The salads were a smash hit, but I tweaked the recipes a good bit. I’m recording the recipes here so I can remember later. And to share with you.
I liked this one because I could do most of the work ahead of time and just do the final assembly right before serving so it came to the table looking fresh. Grilling the corn seems like a lot of trouble. It worked for us because we were slow cooking the ribs all day, so we could toss the corn on the grill for a few minutes when we started the ribs. I think the smokey flavor is worth it, but if you’re not grilling anything else, you could get the char in a cast iron skillet on the stove.
Ingredients
- 6 ears corn (about 3 pounds), shucked and silk removed
- 1 jalapeño, stemmed and halved lengthwise
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 small garlic clove, grated
- 4 green onions, finely sliced
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 2 avocados, diced
Instructions
Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high. Brush corn and jalapeño with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange on the grill and cook, turning occasionally, until corn kernels are browned in spots, 6 to 8 minutes, and the jalapeño is charred all over and tender, 9 to 10 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a cutting board and let cool.
Make the dressing: In a medium bowl, mash the feta into a coarse paste. Stir in buttermilk, lemon zest and juice and garlic, and black pepper. Taste and add salt if needed. Refrigerate until just before serving.
Once the corn and jalapeño are cool enough to handle, remove corn from cob into a large bowl. Chop jalapeño and add to bowl along with green onion and parsley. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to dress and serve.
When ready to serve, toss corn mixture with dressing, then add avocado. Garnish with additional parsley and green onion, if desired.
Adapted from “Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad” by Sue Li.