Grilled Corn and Stone Fruit Salad

5 from 4 votes

Grilled Corn and Stone Fruit Salad

Grilled Corn and Stone Fruit Salad with charred corn, ripe peaches, cotija, fresh basil, and a spiced lemon dressing. The ultimate easy summer side in 15 minutes.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Course: Side Dish, Salad

Cuisine: Mediterranean, Tex Mex, Southwestern

Servings: people

Author: Gaby Dalkin

Ingredients

4 ears corn husked
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 lemon, juiced (about 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice)
¼ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
2 nectarines or peaches sliced into ½"-thick wedges
1 shallot thinly sliced (about 2 tbsps)
1 cup fresh basil leaves loosely torn
4 ounces Cotija cheese crumbled (about ½ cup), or fresh feta

Instructions

Prepare a grill for medium-high heat. Brush the corn with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of chili powder, rubbing the spice into the kernels. Grill, turning occasionally, until tender and charred in spots, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool completely, then stand each ear upright over a wide bowl and cut the kernels off the cob.
In the same bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, ¼ cup olive oil, coriander, cumin, red pepper flakes, and remaining chili powder. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add the shallot to the dressing and let sit for 5 minutes.
Add the corn kernels and stone fruit to the bowl and toss to coat. Add the torn basil and toss once more. Transfer to a serving platter or bowl and crumble the cotija generously over the top. Serve immediately.

Notes

Grill the corn over medium-high heat and let it actually char. A little blackening on the kernels adds a smoky, slightly bitter contrast that balances the sweetness of the stone fruit. Pale, steamed-looking corn does not bring the same depth.
Let the grilled corn cool completely before cutting the kernels off. Hot corn releases steam and excess moisture that will water down your dressing. Cooling it on a cutting board for 10 minutes keeps the salad from going soggy.
Cut the corn kernels off in a wide, shallow bowl, not directly on the cutting board. Standing the cob upright in a bowl catches every kernel and all the starchy milk that comes off the cob, which adds natural sweetness to the finished salad.
Only use stone fruit that is fully ripe and fragrant. Underripe nectarines or peaches are starchy and sour, and no amount of dressing will fix that. The fruit should give slightly when pressed at the shoulder.
Whisk the dressing ingredients together first before adding anything else. The ground coriander, cumin, and red pepper flakes need to fully hydrate and emulsify into the olive oil and lemon juice so every bite gets an even distribution of spice, not a pocket of dry powder.
Slice the shallot paper-thin and soak it in the lemon juice for 5 minutes before building the dressing. Raw shallot has a sharp, pungent bite. A short acidic soak mellows the harshness and softens the texture without losing the onion flavor.
Tear the basil by hand right before tossing the salad. Basil bruises and oxidizes quickly once cut or torn, turning black and bitter within minutes. Tearing it at the last second keeps the leaves bright green and aromatic.
Crumble the Cotija over the salad last, after tossing. If you toss Cotija in with everything else, it breaks down into a paste that coats the other ingredients rather than staying as distinct, salty pockets of cheese.
If substituting feta for Cotija, use a block of feta and crumble it yourself. Pre-crumbled feta is drier and saltier than block feta, and it lacks the creamy texture that makes it a good stand-in for Cotija in a fresh salad like this.
Add the stone fruit to the salad just before serving, not ahead of time. Peaches and nectarines release a significant amount of juice as they sit in the dressing, which dilutes the acidity and makes the salad pool at the bottom of the bowl.
Dress the salad right before serving rather than letting it sit. The lemon juice will continue to cook the shallots and soften the basil the longer it sits, and the corn will absorb the dressing and lose its texture within about 20 minutes.
Season the corn with chili powder before grilling, not after. Applying the chili powder before the corn hits the grill lets the spice toast directly on the hot kernels, which blooms the flavor in a way that sprinkling it on cold cooked corn never achieves.

Nutrition (estimated)