the best summer salad

You have to try this recipe. It's so simple and easy to make.

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If you're looking for healthy sides to bring to a BBQ, a healthy dish for a Summer party, a quick vegetarian side, or your new favorite way to use leftover corn on the cob, you're in the right place.

I'm writing this in June. Right now my little thriddler is obsessed with corn on the cob. However, she usually inhales her first and takes like 3 bites on the one she insists on. There must be some rule in the universe where if your kids tell you they love something, they must start refusing once you've bought in bulk.

I hate wasting food, so I was looking for ideas to use all of the leftovers. (Obviously don't do this if you are sharing this with people outside of your household.) My husband's birthday was last weekend and I wanted something clean to pair with the hot dogs, roasted potatoes, and asparagus I'd planned that would bring all of the flavors together. We had a solo tomato from the farmer's market, a handful of peaches that I knew would get forgotten, and SO much corn on the cob. Yes, you can reheat corn on the cob in boiled water, but I was worried my other kiddos were getting sick of it.

Credit first - I used this Southern Living recipe for inspo. I generally google the ingredients I have lying around and come up with something from there. ( Then I used this Love and Lemon's Recipe for the rest of our leftover corn on the cob. (You have to try it - she uses the corn cob as a stock for a deliciously creamy soup. Paired perfectly with a rainy Summer evening.)

You can use leftover corn on the cob or frozen. If using frozen corn I would defrost it first in a strainer/ colander to remove excess water. See more on this for your tomatoes:

You'll need :

• 1 cup of corn (roughly two ears worth - use a small knife to gently remove kernels from the cob)

• 1 large or 2 medium tomatoes cut into wedges. Ideally heirloom or beefsteak. (I forget what I got from the market- any ripe tomato is fine)

• SALT (more on this later)

• 2 large peaches or nectarines, chopped to 1/2 or 1 inch chunks

• 4-6 basil leaves

• 1 package hallumi

• olive oil

First - Prepare the Honey Lemon Dressing:

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

• 1 tsp miso paste

• 1 tsp lemon

• 2 tbsp honey

• 2 tsp minced shallots or sweet white onion

• optional- pinch of thyme or some chives depending on your tastes. Just something that will pair well with the basil *** see note

• generous sprinkle of salt and cracked pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a jar and shake until emulsified. Store in the fridge until you're ready to serve.

**** I'm obsessed with Samin Nosrat. She is brilliant. Her book is such a great pool read and taught me so much on how to balance flavors. One takeaway I got was to think of the entire meal when preparing each dish. So-- I had herbed potatoes for this dinner- I used some of the leftover chives I'd already had out from the potatoes in this dressing. Drop little hints of each dish to balance the acid/ salt/ sweetness/ etc of each so the entire meal sings together. Kind of like how you would decorate a home with an open space plan. I'm a nerd. Let's move on.***

To Make the Salad:

1. Prepare and chop all of the veggies except tomatoes for your salad on a large cutting board. Place the corn in a large bowl, toss them with your peaches, basil, and store them in the fridge.

2. Slice your tomatoes into wedges and set them aside on a large plate.

Sprinkle a generous amount of sea salt over them. Pink salt or a larger/ coarser salt is ideal but use what you have. The salt will draw the water out. You will drain as much of the water out before you add the tomatoes to the salad. Otherwise it will be really wet and no one wants a soggy bottom salad.

3. Grill your halloumi.

1. Preheat your grill to medium

2. Slice your hallumi into 1/4 thick strips. Coat with oil on each side.

   
   

3. Coat your grill with canola or avocado oil.

   
   

4. Grill each side for about 3 minutes or until desired darkness.

   
   

5. Taste test- The halloumi I used was super salty. So I didn't add more salt to the salad or my dressing. The tomatoes will also be salty so I'd just keep some on the table for guests to adjust based on their tasted/ dietary needs.

Finally - assemble the salad right before you eat. Toss with dressing, and serve.

This allows the hallumi to cool, the serving bowl to chill with the peaches and corn, the flavors of the dressing to blend, and the salt to drain the tomatos. You can absolutely do this the night before and toss together right before serving to save time for a larger event.

Voila.

I would bring this to a barbeque, serve at a shower brunch, or eat this on a Tuesday. It's SO good. I hope you love it!!

What other show-stopping salads do you love for Summer? Please share! For more fitness stuff - please go here. If you love cooking, healthy eating, please click on the recipes tab for more inspo and ideas.

Otherwise- BOOK a call with me and we can chat fitness, nutrition, and I can guide you on how to stay fit during pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond!

xoSA