Tomato, Corn, and Avocado Salad

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This bright and colorful salad takes only minutes to pull together and makes for a perfect summer side.

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Prep Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
15 mins
Servings:
4

Our Tomato, Corn, and Avocado Salad is so colorful and delicious, you’ll want to eat it all summer long. It brings together the sweetest corn (you only need one ear), the juiciest cherry or pear tomatoes, and ripe avocado, and takes mere minutes to make. Simply strip the fresh corn kernels off the cob and add them to your bowl along with the halved tomatoes and one diced avocado. Toss in some scallions for bite and crunch, dress with lime juice and oil, and season with salt and pepper. All that's left to do is enjoy and soak up all the goodness summer has to offer.

Picking Your Produce

With so few ingredients in this salad, it's important that your produce is as ripe as possible. Here are a few tips to remember at the farmer's market or grocery store.

Tomatoes: Ripe tomatoes should have shiny skins with uniform color and no hard, mushy, or green spots. They should be neither firm nor squishy, just slightly soft and supple. A quick sniff should smell sweet and grassy.

Corn: Look for tightly wrapped husks and kernels that feel firm and plump. Peeking inside the husk should reveal kernels that look fresh and intact and come up to the very top of the cob.

Avocado: A ripe avocado should yield to gentle pressure but not feel mushy or soft. The color of the skin should range from dark green to dark brown to eggplant purple.

To dice an avocado into small chunks, remove the pit, then scoop the halved pieces from the peel. Cut them lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices, then rotate the avocado and cut the opposite direction to make perfect little cubes.

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Ingredients

  • 1 ear corn (husk and silk removed; tip cut off)

  • 2 pints cherry, grape, or pear tomatoes, halved (or quartered if large)

  • 1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and diced

  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced

  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, such as safflower

  • Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

  1. Slice corn from cob:

    Stand ear in a large wide bowl; with a sharp knife, carefully slice downward to release the kernels. Discard cob.

    This recipe calls for raw corn, which adds a delightful crunch; there's no need to cook fresh, in-season corn for this recipe.

  2. Add remaining ingredients and toss:

    Add tomatoes, avocado, scallions, lime juice, and oil to bowl. Season with salt and pepper, and toss gently to combine.

Storage

This salad is best enjoyed the day it's made but leftovers can be stored for up to 24 hours in an airtight container. The lime juice will help keep the avocado from browning.

10 More Summer Produce Recipes to Try:

Originally appeared: Everyday Food, July/August 2008
Updated by
Esther Reynolds
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Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and freelance writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.

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