When I want to make my family happy, I feed them corn on the cob. Trite but true. Especially my son likes eating it. Seriously though, not only are the colors absolutely sensational, but the flavors are pretty mind-blowing as well when you throw in a little salsa/vegetable kind of sauce. It livens it up.

There’s so much more you can do with corn on the cob than just slather it with butter and sprinkle salt on top. Though I’ll be the first to admit it’s pretty darn tasty like that. It’s not the most elegant of dishes, I realize that, but let’s do something different with it this time. Something that’ll kick up the color and flavor even more.

Ingredients:

3 or 4 ears corn
2 shallots
4 tomatoes
1 green chili pepper
1 small red bell pepper
1 just ripe peach
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 a tsp sugar
parsley (or cilantro)
butter
pepper
salt



Directions:

One sunny morning, I decided to sneak into a cornfield nearby to pick up some fresh corn.

Not really. Bought my corn at the Farmer’s market but, man, I LOVE that photo. Isn’t it magical? I’m so blessed to be surrounded by this much beauty. This isn’t even half (or 1/4) a mile from my house. 

Anyways. Buy fresh corn and stick your nail in a kernel. No really, just dig your nail in there. If there’s lotsa juice spraying out, it’s fresh. Remove the husk and the little silks. Rinse them under cold water.

I love how they look and feel. So silky and sunny yellow.

I’m going to serve these babies in a salsa type of sauce. Here’s what I’ll be using. Just grab whatever is in your vegetable drawer. You can use mango or melon for this as well.

Fill a stockpot halfway with (unsalted) water, dump 1/4 cup of sugar in there and bring it to a boil. Drop the corn in there and cook for 10 minutes.

Finely chop the shallots.

Wash, deseed and finely chop the bell pepper.

Do the same with the green chili pepper. This won’t make it really hot, it’ll add warmth.

Wash and dice the tomatoes.

As soon as the corn is done, drain it and let it cool off. Amazing how boiling intensifies the color.

I’m using a peach that was just ripe enough to be eaten, but not so ripe it was mushy. Peel and finely chop it.

Sautee the onions, bell pepper and chili pepper in a few drops of oil until soft.

As soon as the onions are soft, add the diced tomatoes.

Pour in 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Add the peach. Season with a little salt and pepper and simmer the sauce for 10 to 15 minutes.

Heat a few tbsp butter in a skillet and brown the corn on all sides. This will take about 10 minutes. Sprinkle a little salt over the corn as you roll them over.

Chop some cilantro or flat-leaf parsley and as soon as the sauce is done, stir it in.

I’ve waited for the sauce to cook down a little before adding 1/2 a tsp sugar. Stir it in and taste to check the seasoning.

Spoon the vegetable sauce all over the corn, revel in its beauty and serve the rest in a bowl on the side. Eat and enjoy every single bite.

Kay’s Recipe Card

Click here for printable size.