Vibrant Corn Salad with Jalape�o Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
6 ears of corn worth of kernels (cooked and cooled)
6 radishes, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 large red onion, diced
1 1/2 large avocados, cubed

for the vinaigrette:
5 tablespoons avocado oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
juice of 1 lime
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and halved
salt
freshly ground black pepper


Toss all of the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Shake the vinaigrette ingredients in a dressing mixing container or closed jar. Strain over the salad. Discard the jalapenos. Toss to evenly distribute the dressing. Serve at room temperature.

My thoughts:

I love salads like these. I am honestly not the biggest traditional salad person but on hot days, a cool dish is needed. I especially love the vinaigrette I came up with for this salad, the oils of the peppers get shaken into the dressing adding just enough heat. It is a great way to get a spicy fix without actually having to bite down on a pepper. The trick to the perfect corn salad is to have a mixture of tastes and textures. A mix of sweet (corn, tomato), crisp (radish), creamy (avocado), spicy (radish, jalapeno), juicy (tomato) and crunchy (cucumber) is my favorite. I served this as an entree but I think it would also be great as a side dish to grilled seafood or portobello burgers.

Sunshine Salad

Ingredients:
2 cups boiled or grilled corn kernals (cooled)
1 1/2 cups chopped red cabbage
1 cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes*
1 cup chopped red onion
1 bunch scallions, diced (green and white parts)


dressing:
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon Scotch Bonnet hot sauce**
juice of 2 limes

*I used a combination of heirloom Yellow Pear and (red) Juliet tomatoes from my own garden.

**I used Miss Hatties Yellow Hot Sauce.

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Set aside. In a large bowl, toss together all of the salad ingredients. Drizzle with dressing then toss to coat. Refrigerate for 15 minutes before serving.

My thoughts:

Forgive the slightly cheesy name but this is sunshine in salad form: crisp, light and hot. While I periodically enjoy a traditional leafy salad, I find salads like these to be a bit more fun to make and eat. The trick is to balance all of the flavors and textures: sweet tomatoes, crisp red onion and cabbage, spicy dressing. Picking vegetables of different colors results in a salad that is as visually arresting as it is tasty.