Summer corn and tomato salad with olive oil-crisped bread
One to make when corn is cheap and sweet and tomatoes plentiful, from now until the end of summer.
I keep the corn and tomatoes raw here, countering their natural sweetness with a good hit of red-wine vinegar, while the croutons, golden on the outside, chewy on the inside, make this summer salad more of a meal.
I eat this as a lunch or light supper; to make it even more substantial, I often pair it with some avocado smashed with a little lime juice and some chopped green chilli. You could also roughly chop a couple of avocados and toss them through the salad, if you like.
- Duration
- Prep 20 min Cook 15 min
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 2 slices good-quality bread (I use sourdough)
- Olive oil
- Salt and black pepper
- 2 ears corn
- 500g tomatoes (all shapes, sizes and colours)
- 4 spring onions
- 2 tbsp red-wine vinegar
- 100g toasted almonds
- 50g pecorino (I use a vegetarian one)
- 1 small bunch mint, leaves picked
- 1 small bunch basil, leaves picked
- 50ml extra-virgin olive oil
Heat the oven + dress the croutons
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/ gas 7. Tear the bread into small, rough chunks and lay them on a baking tray. Drizzle generously with olive oil (about four tablespoons) and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cook your croutons
Roast for 10-15 minutes – how long you cook them for will depend on the density of your bread. You want the croutons to be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, so try to take them out before they are hard all the way through.
Make the salad
Cut the corn kernels from the ears; I do this by resting the end of the corn in a large mixing bowl, which stops the corn from flying everywhere. Cut the tomatoes into bite-sized chunks – it’s nice to keep the shapes and cuts different – and add them to the bowl. Finely slice the spring onions and add these, too. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper, plus the vinegar, and leave to sit for at least 30 minutes.
Chop the almond + crumble the cheese
When the croutons are ready, take them out of the oven. Roughly chop the almonds and finely crumble or coarsely grate the pecorino – I like mine crumbled into pieces about the size of a grain of rice.
Assemble + finish
Tear the herbs into the bowl, then add the almonds, cheese and the olive oil, and toss everything together. Finish by tossing the croutons through just before you serve.
Sign up to my Newsletter
Sign up for my newsletter for joyful and inspiring recipes from me every week, as well as occasional takeovers from other brilliant chefs. I promise never to go overboard and you can unsubscribe at any time.