If you’re looking to take advantage of summer flavors, this salad is a perfect combination of all the season’s best offerings. It was inspired by a salad my mom and I had a while ago at a restaurant, and we’ve both been trying to recreate it ever since. Well, Mom hit it on the nose with this recipe! (My version had a bit too much garlic even for a garlicophile like myself.) After she served it this past weekend, I had to try my own version.

What makes the recipe is the sweet corn – make sure that you use good quality corn if you try the recipe. You can substitute any types of vinegar or oil to your taste, but I did enjoy my mom’s use of malt vinegar – it added just the right amount of tang without the distinctiveness of balsamic vinegar. I usually don’t cook with garlic powder (give me the real stuff any day!), but it ended up adding good flavor without overpowering the dish.

Green Bean, Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad
Inspired by the season and my mom

What You Need
1 pound green beans
3 ears of corn
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Handful of fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 to 4 tablespoons malt vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Fresh ground pepper

What To Do

1  Cook the corn using your favorite method. An easy way is to boil it: shuck the corn, bring a pot of water to boil, drop in the corn, and boil it in until tender (around 8 minutes). When the corn is finished and slightly cooled, cut the kernels off of the cob.

2  Meanwhile, blanch the green beans. Start a pot of water to boil and prepare a bowl of ice water. Trim the beans into 2-inch pieces. When the water boils, drop the beans in the water for 3 minutes, then drain them and immediately place them in the ice water for about 3 minutes.

3  Cut the cherry tomatoes and half, and cut the basil leaves into thin strips (chiffonade).

4  In a small bowl, whisk together the 2 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons malt vinegar, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder.

5  Place the vegetables in a bowl and pour over the oil and vinegar mixture. Mix to combine. Adjust the flavors to taste, adding more vinegar or garlic powder as necessary, as well as more salt and fresh ground pepper.