This rainbow corn salad brings back some very vivid and fond memories for me, the kind that take me straight back to five years ago in an instant. One bite of this rainbow corn salad and just like that, I'm back at the University of South Carolina, where I worked right in the heart of campus on the historic Horseshoe.
One of the great things about working on campus is that there's always something going on. Also, 95 percent of campus is amazingly gorgeous so you almost don't mind the fact that you're going to have to walk everywhere for maximum efficiency. I took advantage of both of these things pretty frequently and would go on long meandering walks around campus. On many Tuesdays throughout the year, Healthy Carolina would have a farmers market on Greene Street, and they'd almost always have samples of recipes.
Some of the recipes were from the campus chefs, and some were from Patricia Moore-Pastides cookbooks that she wrote and promoted during her time as First Lady of the University of South Carolina. These samples would usually come with recipe cards so students, staff, and whoever else was on campus could recreate these healthy recipes at home. The goal of Healthy Carolina is to make people more aware of how to maintain their own health, and this was one of their ways to reach out.
A recipe that stuck with me the most through the years is a corn salad that had freshly shucked corn, ripe red tomatoes, torn basil, and feta cheese. The dressing that tied it all together was tangy, and together with the salt of the cheese and the freshness of the produce it was pretty much the perfect meal.
I've since lost that recipe card, despite digging through my loose recipe binder and in between all of the books on my shelves. It's not online anywhere that I can tell, and I just was going to have to wing this one. So I did just that, and who knows, I may have even created something different than what we had on campus but this corn salad is a winner all the same. It brings back those memories of standing in the hot sun on the grassy area between Russell House and Longstreet Theater, debating whether or not it was okay to go back for seconds or thirds. It tastes like a working at UofSC summer and I love it for that.
Rainbow Corn Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups corn kernels, either frozen and defrosted or fresh off the cob
- ½ red onion diced
- 4 tbsp red wine vinegar divided
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 14 large basil leaves julienned
- ¾ tbsp lemon
- 2 oz feta cheese crumbled
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut the corn off the cob if using fresh, or put frozen corn on a plate and defrost in the microwave for 2 minutes.
- Soak the diced onion in 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar and set aside.
- Mix the corn, tomatoes, basil, and onion together in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of red wine vinegar and lemon juice. Mix to distribute evenly on the vegetables.
- Add in feta cheese and mix to distribute. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or refrigerate to let flavors mingle.
This salad makes a great side for grilled foods this summer, an easy no-heat lunch to take to work, or even as something you grab a bite or two of out of the fridge after work. The rainbow effect from the vegetables makes this rainbow corn salad a fun eat and a good visual treat. And even though I'm no longer on campus I'll always have the memories, corn-related or not.
Find more delicious salads like my kale parmesan salad, caesar salad bites, and seven layer salad in a jar.