Charred Corn Salad with Pickled Onions and Cilantro
Corn season. Possibly the most wonderful time of the year.
By Erin Henderson
Corn season is one my favourite times of the year for fresh produce.
It’s heart-achingly quick, starting in southern Ontario at the beginning of August and ending a month later.
(Some eager corn enthusiasts try to fast track picking to mid-July, but the corn is generally starchy and flavourless. As desperate as I am to join the shucking hoards, I impatiently bide my time, knowing very good things come to those who wait.)
Much like my beloved asparagus in the spring, this blog will be littered with corn recipes to celebrate this most magical harvest. Brace yourself for a ridiculous number of corn pastas, soups and sides. But all of them are of the eye-rolling, toe-curling variety, so you can get excited, too.
This salad is a riff on Mexican street corn. My sister went to Mexico City a few years ago and ate her way through the country’s capital. There, elote is a popular snack that’s sold by street vendors who serve it up slathered in crema and sprinkled with chili powder and cotija cheese.
There are a few places near my west Toronto neighbourhood that sell cotija cheese, but it’s not always convenient to get to these stores if I’m making this salad on a whim (or at our cottage). The more readily available feta cheese is a decent stand in.
Charred Corn Salad with Pickled Onions and Cilantro in Creamy Feta Dressing
Makes: about 6 cups
Chef level: moderate
Ingredients:
- 4 corn cobs, shucked
- 1 cup of radishes, sliced on the bias
- 1 cup pickled red onions (recipe below)
- Handful of cilantro leaves, washed well (obviously)
- ½ cup full fat sour cream
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup crumbled feta
- 1 tsp each smoked paprika, chili powder, and cumin
- Juice of 1 lime
- Black pepper
- Salt
- Olive oil
How to Make It:
- Into a bowl blend the sour cream, mayo, a few food cranks of black pepper, the paprika, chili powder, cumin and the lime juice, stirring well to combine.
- Crumble in the feta, stir again to mix well, leaving a few chunks, and set aside until ready to use.
- Slather the olive oil, salt and pepper over the shucked corn cobs and set on a medium grill, turning every few minutes to get brown and toasty. You will hear popping (like popcorn) but panic not.
- Remove charred corn from the grill and set aside to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, slice the kernels from the cobs.
- On a long, flat platter, spread the feta dressing over the bottom.
- Sprinkle the corn over the dressing.
- Top with sliced radish, pickled red onion, and cilantro leaves.
- Dollop here and there with remaining dressing.
*To make pickled onions: slice one or two red onions into thin strips and place in a mason jar or glass bowl. In a sauce pan bring to a boil 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 cup water, 2 Tbsp white sugar, and 1 Tbsp salt. Once sugar and salt are dissolved, carefully pour boiling mixture over onions and allow to cool on the counter to room temperature. Cover tightly and store in the fridge until needed. Onions will last up to two weeks.
Wine Pairing:
While the charred corn is smoky and buttery, which would normally call for a Chardonnay, this salad is actually quite zesty thanks to the bright feta dressing and tangy picled onions. The cilantro also adds a fresh, herbal note. In this case, a New World Sauvignon Blanc, something from New Zealand, South Africa, or Chile, is the way to go. Sauv Blanc has the bright acid to match the vinegar of the salad, and the same verdant flavours of the cilantro.