Roasted Corn Salad

I challenge anyone who says anything other than 'summer' as their favorite season to give me a really, truly good reason.  Yes, the first snow fall is magical and lends winter its five minutes of charm; red leaves and pumpkins are nice things about the fall; spring's floral explosion is a welcome respite from the winter's dreary cold.  But let's consider this rationally:  summer has the best food.  


I've always liked summer best, mostly because my birthday lands squarely in the middle of it, but I've never truly appreciated summer the way I do now until this year.  And it's all because of two 4x12 foot plots of land in my backyard:  the garden.

Before I get into the wonders of my garden's bounty, I must disclose that I lived with a garden for the first 18 years of my life, and didn't like it.  While there are certain things I remember fondly, like the amazing sauce my mother would make from our tomato harvest and freeze for the winter, mostly I remember with disdain tasks such as weeding and picking green beans.

Over the past few years, my feelings towards gardening have slowly changed, starting with a tomato plant or two in pots on my porch, and eventually evolving into the full-fledged garden I have now.  It has been great, and has provided us with something between a trickle and a bounty for several months now.  We started with lettuce and spinach, continued with peas and cabbage, and now our daily harvests include tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, and even a few ears of corn. 

The corn was a 'just to see if I can do it' experiment, and even though the ears have been freakishly small and runty, the corn has tasted as good as any of the best I've ever had.  I turned last weekend's  small harvest into a roasted corn salad.  Like all of my best recipes, I didn't keep exacting records of ingredient amounts, but I don't think you could go too wrong with this.  The secret lies in the addition of a little bit of rice vinegar, which somehow balanced and coalesces all of the other flavors.  Try this salad--the fresh vegetables and herbs combined with the flavor of the grill are a testament to the wonders of summer and will remind you why summer is (or should be) your favorite season.

I still hate picking beans.


Roasted Corn Salad
Serves 2-4 as a side dish

2 ears corn, shucked
1 jalapeno
1 tomato
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 Tbsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped
salt and pepper

Heat grill to high.  Roast corn, jalapeno, and tomato until beginning to char on all sides.  Cool to touch.  Using knife, scrape corn kernels from cob.  Peel, remove seeds, and dice jalapeno.  Chop tomato.  Combine corn, jalapeno, tomato, vinegars, olive oil, parsley, and tarragon in bowl.  Mix thoroughly.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.