Corn Salad
Savoury summer corn salad is a wonderful side at any barbecue or picnic.
Grilled and slightly smoky corn kernels tossed with summer vegetables, lentils, and fresh mâche (a.k.a. cornsalad; or lamb's lettuce) under a light apple cider vinaigrette dressing. This corn salad is lovely as a side to just about anything coming off the grill.
Mâche can be a little difficult to find in North America, but it is becoming more popular. Europeans have a long history of use and shouldn't have much trouble finding it at all. If you do have difficulty locating it, good substitutions are butter lettuce or watercress. Later in the season I'll use a well chopped spring mix, or California mix.
If making this during the colder months when grilling isn't feasible, or it's a hassle to fire up the barbecue, frozen corn kernels (thawed) will work fine.
I also like to improvise with this salad by adding seeds like pepitas and sunflower seeds, but this is optional.
Ingredients
(Makes 8 servings)
4 corn cobs, husk removed, grilled, kernels cut off (or 2 cups frozen kernels thawed)
2 teaspoons avocado oil
1/2 cup yellow lentils, cooked and cooled
2 cups mâche (cornsalad; or lamb's lettuce)
2 Roma tomatoes, deseeded and diced
1/2 cup cucumber, diced
1/4 small red onion, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, deseeded and diced
1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded and diced
1/4 cup pepitas (optional)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds, deshelled (optional)
dressing:
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup avocado oil
juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions
Heat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat, or an indoor smokeless grill to high heat.
Prepare the yellow lentils as per package instructions. Once cooked, remove from heat, drain any remaining water, then transfer to a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.
Brush the cobs of corn lightly with avocado oil, then grill, turning every few minutes until the corn is lightly charred all the way around (about 12 to 15 minutes). Set aside on a plate to cool to room temperature before cutting off the kernels for use in the salad.
In a small mixing bowl, add the ingredients listed under dressing and whisk well until the oil emulsifies (Can also be prepared with an immersion blender if available.). Set aside.
In a large salad bowl, combine the corn, lentils, mâche, tomato, cucumber, red onion, and sweet bell peppers. Toss to combine. Dress and toss just before serving.
Nutritional Information Per Serving:
total calories = 146 | total fat = 7.89g | saturated fat = 1.09g | cholesterol = 0mg | sodium = 69.15mg | net carbohydrates = 13.69g | dietary fibre = 2.04g | sugars = 5.09g | protein = 2.92g
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