I held a late birthday brunch in late July and made this as one of my side dishes. The fresh corn, orange and yellow bell pepper, and sweet tomato were a perfect counterbalance to the richer dishes (garlic rosemary hasselback potatoes and smoked salmon toast with herby cream cheese mmm…). This dish is also vegan and vegetarian friendly.

This is one of those dishes that looks impressive, but is actually ridiculously simple to  make. I love the “rainbow” effect of the red tomato, the orange and yellow bell paper, and the green cilantro. Prepare yourself for a lot of unnecessary, but pretty and colorful pictures 🙂

I did 1-1.5 centimeter dices for my vegetables (fruits, I guess), but they don’t need to be this exact measurement. Just pick a size and stick with it.

Add sea salt, black pepper, and olive oil. Taste and adjust.

A squeeze of fresh lemon juice just brightens and lifts up the entire dish. A handful of fresh cilantro also helps with that.

Mix, check for seasoning. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

This dish is light, easy, and full of flavor and nutrients from the fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, and corn. You can also use grilled corn instead of boiled corn for some smokey charred goodness, and also substitute in cherry tomatoes for the large tomato that I used. The amount of each fruit that I used was enough to serve 8 people as a side dish, so adjust accordingly to your party. The measurements of the seasonings are also just an approximation of the actual amount I used – I just eyeballed everything – but again, this should be according to your personal preferences.

Happy cookin’ everyone.

Summer Corn “Salsa”

Serves 8

Ingredients

3 ears of corn

1 large tomato

1 yellow bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Juice of 1/2 to 1 whole lemon

1 to 1 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Directions

1. Boil the corn for 5 minutes. Remove from the pot.
2. While the corn is cooling, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Cut the tomato into fourths and remove the seeds. Then, dice the tomato and bell peppers. Wash the cilantro, pick off the leaves, and roughly chop the leaves only.
3. When the corn is cooled, remove the husk (if any) and shear off the kernels with a knife. For this, I like to place a small bowl, upside down, into the middle of a larger and shallow dish. Place the corn vertically onto the small bowl and use the knife to cut down each side. The small bowl will elevate your ear of corn so that the knife can cut down the entire length of the cob without hitting the rim of the larger dish. Then, run the blunt/back edge of the knife down the cob to extract any of the kernels that were left behind.
4. Add the diced bell peppers, diced tomatoes, and corn kernels to a large bowl. Add salt, black pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice. Toss to combine. Test for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
5. If the dish will not be served immediately, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. When you are ready to serve, take out the bowl and add in the chopped cilantro. Toss to combine.

 

~S~