The sauce is what makes this salad. Butter, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, fresh basil and parsley – it’s basically a scampi sauce, just poured over grilled corn and vegetables instead of shrimp. Everything gets tossed together and served warm. It’s crazy that something this simple can be this good.
This recipe is as easy as it gets: grill corn, grill sugar snap peas, grill pepper, toss with “dressing” made of butter, garlic, lemon zest, and lemon juice. When my husband asked me what he was in for (note: partners of food bloggers have to ask this frequently), I said, “Think scampi but veggies instead of shrimp.”
This recipe came to be because I had a random assortment of veggies on hand: corn on the cob, sugar snap peas, and cherry tomatoes. What to do with them? Create this delicious, warm, summery salad that I’m craving all over again while describing it to you, that’s what to do.
If you find yourself in a similar situation – lots of random veggies – use what you’ve got! There’s nothing special about the particular mix I used, though I do think corn is essential.
Sugar snap peas are one of my favorite summer veggies in general and I love the acid from cherry tomatoes, so they were perfect accompaniments, too. But again, use what you’ve got!
This recipe makes an excellent side dish to a good steak or grilled chicken or fish – just double the sauce and use it on the protein, too! You could even toss it all with some pasta and throw on some goat cheese. so many options!
You can even use Sous Vide Corn instead of grilled! That on its own has become one of my go-to side dish recipes.
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Get the Recipe:
Grilled Corn Side Salad with Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 4 ears of corn
- Cooking spray
- Roughly 2 cups sugar snap peas
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Kosher salt
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp sliced basil strips
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 2 tsp flaked sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your grill to medium high heat.
- Remove the husks and threads from the corn and rinse. Spray each ear of corn with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Wrap them each in foil.
- In a grill basket, toss sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes with olive oil and kosher salt.
- Reduce grill heat to medium. Place corn cobs in the center of the grill. Grill for 7 minutes.
- Add grill basket to the grill. Flip corn. Grill veggies and corn for an additional 7 minutes, tossing veggies once. If you want char marks on your corn, remove foil and return to grill for last few minutes of cooking, turning occasionally.
- While the veggies are grilling, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add garlic and cook until garlic is just starting to brown, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, half the basil, and half the parsley.
- Once veggies are done, let cool for 3-5 minutes. Using a sharp knife, slice kernels off the cob.
- Add veggies and corn kernels to a salad bowl. Pour over the butter lemon mixture and toss to coat.
- Garnish with remaining basil, parsley, and flaked sea salt. Serve warm.
