Perfect summer salad

Summer. The time of year when you can get the most amazing, fresh, in-season produce. In-season is important because it means you can find locally grown fruits and vegetables that were picked at the peak of ripeness and weren't trucked in from across the country, or from another country altogether.

Lucky for me, corn and tomatoes are in season right now in Texas. I wish I could take credit for growing these amazing vegetables, but I can't. I didn't plant tomatoes in my bed at the community garden this year, and I've never had luck growing corn. This year I planted potatoes and onions. I'll plant tomatoes for fall harvest.  Usually I steam or grill a few ears of corn, we'll enjoy them, but I tend to have some left over. Rather than have it go to waste (something I'm really working on), I left a few of the ears uncooked so that I could try making a salad. I'd had black bean based salad in mind, but that isn't what I ended up making. What I ended up with was even better. Feel free to play with the amount of veggies you use, and adjust the dressing quantities to match. I made enough for me for a couple of meals, but this would be fantastic to bring to a cookout.

Sweet Corn and Tomato Salad

3 ears of uncooked sweet corn - kernels removed
1 cup of grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup of red onion, finely diced
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar (I used an herb vinegar)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 T finely chopped cilantro (optional if you don't like or don't have cilantro)

Cut the kernels off of the corn cobs and combine with all of the other ingredients (except the cilantro)in a large serving bowl. Mix to combine. Refrigerate for at least an hour to let the flavors blend and the salad to get nice and cold. Mix in the chopped cilantro before serving.

Enjoy!

Now to dream up something to do with those in-season Texas peaches I picked up yesterday...

Kyra