Grilled Corn Salad with Smoky Vinaigrette
It’s this time of year that we’re craving fresh corn and this grilled corn salad is always on the rotating menu. Gorgeous corn is making its appearance at farmers markets and we just can’t stop eating them. Such pleasure! Though it’s not officially Summer yet, it’s hard not to be in such the mood for fresh grilled salads and pretty much anything that comes off the bbq. Blame it on the weather for putting everyone in the mood for dining al fresco, with a plenitude of beer and rose.
Favorite Summer Grilled Corn Salad
We’ll also blame it on our neighbors, whose grills and bbq fill the air with the smell of smoke, char and the essence that embodies Summer. We know what the pups feel like when we’re cooking and their noses start to rise into the air and sniff what ever is coming out of our kitchen. This time of year we can often be seen noses leading us forward sniffing through the grilling air. As of late, we’ll walk into our back yard and immediately assume puppy sniff out position. We both know we’re smelling the same aroma when we both look at each other and the looks that are exchanged are like light bulbs going on. “…bbq! do you smell what I smell? someone’s bbq-ing. Let’s grill something for dinner!”.
Video: Grilled Corn Salad Recipe:
When it comes to bbq, we act like hungry puppies. Oy, the life of living with two hungry doggies. Their habits start to rub off on us. For this meal, we knew it was going to be corn. Maybe a salad? Yes, a grilled corn salad. And what to add? Let’s see what we have left over in the kitchen from the weeks photo shoots and throw those on the grill too.We found one slightly tired looking red bell pepper, which was perfect because we were going to wilt and char it to perfection anyways. Perfection. A last minute dinner with some scrounged up vegetables and ingredients was the perfect meal to a garden dinner.
The wonderful part about this salad is that you can add what ever grilled vegetables that suit your pleasure. Got tons of garden zucchini? Eggplant? asparagus? Grill them all up and make this salad a rainbow of Summer’s best vegetables. But what ever you do, make sure you have plenty of the corn on hand because those pops of sweet kernels perfumed with the perfect bbq char is what really makes this salad fabulous. The dressing is also super duper wonderful and if you’re a dressing freak, make double the dressing because it’s that good!
As the sun was setting and we were enjoying this salad in the garden, we were wondering if our neighbors were now raising their noses in the air to sniff our little bbq party. See? all these puppy sniffing habits happen to us all.
Enjoy,
Here’s some more great corn recipes for Summer.
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This recipe was originally published in 2013 and re-published in 2019 with updated video.
Grilled Corn Salad Recipe
Ingredients
for the salad:
- 3 ears (3 ears) fresh corn , shucked
- 1 (1) fresh chili to taste (jalapeno, anaheim, poblano or serrano)
- 1 (1) bell pepper
- olive oil for coating
- 1 medium (1 medium) cucumber , chopped
- 1 medium (1 medium) tomato , chopped
- 4 ounces (113 g) feta cheese , crumbled
- fresh handful of basil or herbs , minced
- salt , to taste
- ground black pepper , to taste
for the dressing:
- 1 clove (1 clove) garlic , crushed or fine mince
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) fresh lemon juice
- Zest of 1 fresh lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) salt
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon (2.5 ml) soy sauce or Worchestershire (use Tamari for Gluten Free)
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) paprika
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the dressing: combine dressing ingredients in mason jar. Close the lid and shake ingredients together until well combined. Or combine all ingredients together in medium bowl and whisk until combined. Set aside.
- Roast the corn, peppers and chili: Lightly coat whole corn, bell pepper and chili with oil. Heat the grill or bbq on high heat and roast the corn, bell pepper and chili until cooked and slightly charred.
- Allow vegetables to cool, then in a large bowl, shuck the corn. Peel the chili pepper and bell pepper and then remove the seeds. Chop the bell pepper and mince the chili pepper. Add to bowl with the corn.
- In same bowl, add cucumber, tomato and herbs.
- Before serving, shake or combine dressing again and toss into salad. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
This Grilled Corn Salad is a flavor explosion! The smoky vinaigrette adds a perfect touch, elevating the dish to a whole new level. It’s a refreshing and satisfying summer favorite that’s easy to make. Highly recommended!
This is delicious! I made it using a poblano pepper and red bell pepper and extra ears of corn. No need to double the dressing as a little goes a long way. I had several requests for this recipe when I made it for a tailgate party.
Thanks Carla! So glad you enjoyed the recipe and thanks for sharing your adaptations. It’s definitely a great recipe for tailgating!
The combination of vinaigrette with corn is amazing! Thanks for an amazing salad dressing!
This is such a refreshing salad for the summer! I love the smoky vinaigrette!
I love adding a smoky flavor to summer salads too, it’s almost a summer essential 🙂 The roasted pepper is genius. I need to think more in my feet sometimes!
The smoky flavor is what makes this recipe so good. Thank you!
What an amazing corn salad! I need to stock up on some corn to make this next weekend!
Fresh and great!
We eat it now!
‘Spicy ‘greetings
A roasted corn salad, yum that sounds wonderful. I don’t blame you about wanting to BBQ, it is so much fun!
This sounds soooo good! Love the look of this salad!
I totally saw corn at the market this weekend, and I passed it up! I just wasn’t ready for it to taste like summer, even if the thermostat has already hit a hundred. Same reasoning behind why I couldn’t buy peaches either. I hadn’t even had apricots yet! Regretting all this. I guess it’s time to face the blazing sun. Or, it’s time to acknowledge that it’s there, get under some shade, and eat the fruits of that heat!
Summer grilled corn has been my FAVorite warm weather dish lately. This salad will be happening in my kitchen PRONTO. Thanks guys!
Corn is one of my favorite things to grill! I would love this with zucchini and asparagus!
Summer requires corn. In fact, corn is summer to me. There are so many ways to use it. This looks like a very, very good way!
Fresh corn. . hooray!! OMG, looks delicious!!!
You guys honestly have no idea how much I love this salad! I have been grilling corn like now other and this sound incredible to me! I think I need to make it tonight! Not sure I could make it till this weekend for a BBQ!
That is some gorgeous corn! Sure puts the frozen corn from TJ’s that I sprinkled on our salads tonight to shame! And I know what you mean about smelling your neighbor’s food this time of year; so many bbq’s and good smells going on. It has prompted me to make things just because I’ll smell someone else’s!