This corn and tomato salad with fresh mozzarella is perfect for cooling down in hot weather!
The weather has finally started to feel like it’s not trying to murder us all (it has started to warm up a bit), which means it is time for one of my favorite summer salads: fresh sweet corn and tomato salad.
I grew up on the perpetually sunny beaches of southern California, and I’ve come to discover in my old age that they don’t make year-round boringly sunny weather like that everywhere. Go figure. And warm weather is actually quite nice? I’m trying to say that I’m pretty psyched that it’s almost summer.
The Corn
One of my favorite things about summer is fresh corn! You can also use frozen corn if you don’t have fresh corn available yet, and the frozen corn actually is not too far off the real thing. I go a little crazy for corn in the summers – check out my strawberry & honey cornbread muffins or my spring pea and cucumber salad.
My craving for fresh corn led me to create this salad, which has been my go-to in recent weeks. I literally had it at 10am this morning for breakfast and have no regrets.
I like to use sweet white corn for this corn and tomato salad, which adds a hit of sweetness with minimal calories.
The Tomatoes
The recipe calls for cherry tomatoes. In my experience, cherry tomatoes are the most consistently good tomatoes. You can definitely use heirloom tomatoes if they’re good – or campari tomatoes. I usually avoid the big tomatoes though unless they are heirloom and I’m picking them out myself (or someone I trust is picking them out). I like to use yellow tomatoes for this salad primarily because I think they’re pretty — but they also are less acidic and slightly sweeter.
Keeping my Corn and Tomato Salad Low-Calorie
I consider this among my great recipes for dieting because the sweetness in the corn helps me control my sweet tooth (which is TERRIBLE). The fresh mozzarella is also very filling and has a good amount of protein without loads of fat. It keeps me full for a while without letting me feel sluggish. And I don’t think it suffers from a lack of olive oil because the fat in the fresh mozzarella gives it plenty of richness. (That said – you should still add olive oil if you’re not counting calories! See my optional ingredients note below.)
Optional Ingredients to Take the Corn and Tomato Salad to the Next Level
This is a great “choose your own adventure” salad — if it’s a weekend splurge day (remember, postpartum here, desperately trying to not need to buy new summer shorts), I will add the olive oil and croutons and sliced avocado, which for me makes this heaven. But you don’t need to reach nirvana on a every day basis. Really, really good is good enough for me most days. So without further ado . . . the secret to my summer bliss.
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Sweet Corn and Tomato Summer Salad
This is a delicious spring and summer salad that you can make as healthy as you want. When I eat this for lunch on a weekday, I usually just stick to the non-optional ingredients to keep it as calorie-light as possible. If I have guests or if it’s a weekend, I like to spice it up with some extra tasty tidbits (listed as optional ingredients below).
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients
Core Salad Ingredients
Optional Ingredients
Instructions
1. Prepare the corn
From frozen: pour about 1/2 inch of water into a saucepan. Add the corn. Heat until water is just starting to boil, turn off the heat, stir, drain the corn, and set aside to cool.
From fresh: pour about 1/2 inch of water into a saucepan. Heat until water boils for 1 minute, turn off the heat, drain the corn, and set aside in the refrigerator or freezer to cool.
If you are making croutons, pop your slice of bread into the toaster now.
2. Get a salad bowl and start chopping
Slice the shallot (or red onion) very thinly and place in bowl. You should have about 1.5 tbsp of shallot. Cover with 1 tbsp sherry vinegar. Do this first so that the shallot/onion can pickle a tad.
Halve the tomatoes. Cut the fresh mozzarella into 1/2 inch cubes. Then add on top of the tomatoes. Place the chopped basil on top.
3. Top with corn, arugula, and microgreens.
6. Toss salad.
Make sure to get the vinegar from the bottom of the bowl through the rest of the salad. You may wish to add more vinegar. If using, add the olive oil and sliced avocado before tossing .
If you are adding croutons, cut the unbuttered warm toast into 1-inch pieces and sprinkle over the top of the salad after tossing.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Category: Salad
- Method: No Cook
