Corn and Crab Salad
To my palate, corn and crab are blood brothers. I have a hard time making a crab dish in the summer without at least thinking about corn. Frequently, the corn ends up stealing the show. Bright, sugary corn marries so well with the sweetness of crab. Corn also loves herbs like basil and tarragon and dill. If you find yourself on a summer weekend longing for the perfect dish for lunch in the garden, sunlight dappling through the trees, this is it. Jump in the car (or bicycle, horse or motorcycle...) and go as fast as is legal to the nearest farm stand for the sweetest corn you can find (I always try it raw first!). Then stop by the fishmonger for some fresh lump crabmeat (or a steamed lobster, diced up) and race home. This dish is so simple you can make all of that happen before lunchtime. I like to serve the salad family-style, with country toast rubbed with garlic and olive oil. – Seamus Mullen
Ingredients
- 4 ears white sweet corn, shucked
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked through to remove bits of shell
- A handful of Sun Gold tomatoes or other cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 English (seedless) cucumber, skin on, halved and sliced into half-moons
- 1/4 cup pickled shallots
- 1 avocado, diced
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Aleppo pepper
- A handful of fresh basil leaves, torn into large pieces
-
Leaves of 1 branch fresh tarragon, torn into pieces
Preparation
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the corn for 2 minutes. Cut the kernels off the cob with a sharp knife.
In a large serving bowl, combine the lemon zest and juice, vinegar and garlic and mix well, then whisk in the olive oil. Fold in the corn, crabmeat, tomatoes, cucumber, pickled shallots and avocado and carefully mix together. Season with salt, black pepper and Aleppo pepper and finish with the torn herbs.
– From Seamus Mullen’s Hero Food by Seamus Mullen/Andrews McMeel Publishing
