Corn Salad: a disguise for weak corn

This is not delicious corn.  It is from Colorado. 

I love Colorado, but I hate the corn here.

I am a spoiled, ungrateful Midwesterner who had no idea how bad corn could taste outside of the Illinois-Iowa corn belt. There are many good things to say about living in Colorado, but the local corn is not on that list. What they call “sweet corn” here, I call “feed corn”. Now, don’t take offense, my Rocky Mountain friends—I’m glad that you can be happy with so little. I love you all, but sadly, you are eating shit. Absolute shit.

Now, if you grew up eating the sugary-sweet, crunchy blond corn of the upper Midwest (this one’s for you, Rebecca), you might need a way to disguise the weird hay flavor that characterizes the “corn” you get here. Plus, who doesn’t want a colorful salad at their BBQ?





Zippy Corn Salad



8 ears of corn (or 4 cups corn)

2 cups cooked beans (black, pinto, garbanzo), or 1 can beans

1 small red onion, finely diced

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro



Dressing:

1 garlic clove, mashed and diced

1 teaspoon dried cumin

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. hot sauce like Frank’s Red Hot or Tapatío (or more to taste)

¼ cup lime juice

½ cup olive oil



Bring water to a boil in a Dutch oven and drop the husked, cleaned ears of corn into it. After 1 minute, remove corn and allow to cool. Cut corn off the cobs and combine with other vegetables and beans in a large bowl.



Whisk dressing ingredients together and pour over corn mixture, stirring to coat thoroughly.