Oven Roasted Corn Salad

I can’t believe the mums are already out! They’re in the stores everywhere! Even at grocery stores…

Now mums only mean one thing… summer is REALLY coming to an end. They basically say: “make the best of the days to come, folks, because before you know it, Halloween will be here and then, the first thing you’ll know is you’ll be putting up Christmas decorations“.

SNOW is just around the corner!!

OK, I might be exaggerating a bit, but really, I find that, at this time of year, things just start to fly. It’s like we’re always on a countdown to something. Countdown to Halloween, followed by countdown to Thanksgiving, shortly followed by a mad dash to the biggest event of the year, Christmas, and then, of course, there’s New Year’s Day.

Yeah… come September, it feels like we’re hopping running from holiday to holiday. Soon, blogs everywhere will, just like the trees in the fall, start taking all sorts of colours, all in unison.

It’s funny though how cooking really follows the different seasons, as well as the different holidays. I really like that though. I always get soooo excited when I get to cook “themed” meals.

But let’s not jump the gun here, there are still a few weeks to go before we let the critters out of our cupboards and start creating our scariest meals for Halloween!

For the time being, we are sort of in between seasons. And I happen to have the perfect salad for this. Really! No word of a lie.

This one truly is on the fence between summer and fall. It’s sweet and crisp and fresh, just like summer, but it’s got definite tones of the cooler days to come,  flavors that are full and bold, as well as colors that remind you of the fall.

The key to getting the flavors right for that one is to roast the corn in the oven. This has to the be the easiest way to cook corn, really! All you need to do is set the oven to 400F, throw the corn in, husks and all, and bake for 35-40 minutes. The husks will trap the moisture in and thus allow the corn to cook in its own steam.

Makes it sooooo sweet and tasty, unbelievable.

You could of course it eat right away, (in fact, I strongly suggest you make a few extras…) although you might want to let it cool for a couple of minutes before you start removing the husks. The steam that comes out at this point is extremely hot.

But for this recipe, you will need to let the corn cool completely and remove the kernels from the cob then put them in the fridge to cool overnight, or at least for a few hours.

And that, right there, was the hardest part in the making of this scrumptious salad. After the corn is cooked and cooled, it will take no time at all to put it together. It doesn’t even need to macerate. The corn does all the work when it comes to giving the dish all its wonderful flavor.

Give this one a go, before corn is gone for good!

INGREDIENTS
Serves 2

• 4 ears of corn, oven baked, kernels removed and completely cooled
• 50g sundried tomatoes (not the “in oil” variety, but make sure they are fresh, bright red and moist)
• 12 kalamata olives, chopped
• 100g feta cheese, crumbled
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• Generous pinch black pepper
• the juice of half a lemon or lime
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For better results, you should roast the corn the previous day. 
2. Preheat the oven to 400F.
3. Place ears of corn in a single layer on a cookie sheet or directly on the oven rack and bake for 35-40 minutes, until soft.
4. Remove corn from oven and let it cool for a few minutes then peel down the husks.
5. Remove kernels from the cobs and place in the fridge to cool completely, preferably overnight.
6. When corn is good and cold, add it to a mixing bowl, add the rest of the ingredients. Blend to combine.
7. Serve immediately and garnish with parsley and a slice of lime, if desired.