This Summerado Salad: Avocado, Corn, Peaches and Basil got it’s name for a reason. In my humble opinion it is the embodiment of Summer. Corn so sweet you don’t have to cook it. Fresh garden basil. Local peaches, or even better, Arkansas peaches your family carefully drove up north for you in such large quantities that was all you ate for days. And a hint of rich cheese just because it makes the Summerado Salad: Avocado, Corn, Peaches and Basil oh, so much better. It became a tradition of mine to make it for my 4th of July picnic when I discovered that it delights others almost as much as it delights me. It’s been so popular that it’s made the circuit for Birthday parties as well and it a commonly requested menu from DLK for Hire. Which is great news to me because it holds up pretty well for a salad. I can’t take credit for the name. My friend Adam named it last weekend while we were enjoying a picnic at the dog park. He’s good at stuff like that. The Summerado Salad is the one on the right in the picture. We over-mixed the avocado a little so it blended in too much. It’s still tastes perfect but the texture isn’t quite as nice. That said, you can’t really screw up the Summerado Salad: Avocado, Corn, Peaches and Basil because you’re starting with all of the best ingredients I can think up with my over-heated Summer brain on permanent vacation at the beach. Where it should be.
- 4 ears raw corn (you can grill it or blanch it for a minute if you prefer)
- 4 peaches (at other times in the year I make this with champagne mangos)
- 2 avocados
- juice of 1 + lime
- *4 + ounces cotija, ricotta salata or manouri cheese (optional)
- ¼ cup basil leaves sliced thin (chiffonade)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Slice the kernels off the corn and into your picnic container.
- Dice the peaches and avocados into similar sized pieces.
- Juice the lime over the salad.
- Slice the basil into thin strips.
- Add salt, pepper and oil. Fold gently so as not to mash the avocado.
- *Top with crumbled cheese if you like. I love manouri; it’s a Greek sheep’s milk pressed cheese. It’s really rich and not salty, but I only learned about it this year. So every Summer before now, I made this with cotija or ricotta salata. And they’re all good. Just make sure you know how salty your cheese is before you salt the salad. Then you can adjust. Or you can leave it out altogether if you're serving other salads that have dairy. Totally your call.
Great name, nice hands, tasty salad 🙂
Agree, Agree, Agree. Thanks for all your help.
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