These days the thing my farm-to-table shopping mother is keeping me well stocked in is fresh corn. Since corn starts to loose sweetness as soon as it’s picked (its natural sugars convert to starch), I’ve been eating it as often as I can. Rough assignment, I know!
A few stray things I’ve learned as I’ve forged ahead:
1) Per my mom: If you’re boiling, don’t use salt—it toughens the kernels—and about 7-10 minutes (depending on whether you like it firmer or softer) is all it takes.
2) Per my friend Alex, to whom I turn with all grill-related questions: To retain moisture, grill corn husks-on for about 10-15 minutes (until they look nicely charred in a way that makes you want to open them up). Remove the husks and finish on the grill for an additional 3-5 minutes.
3) Per my own compulsive research: Corn provides ¼ of a day’s serving of thiamin, which has been connected to brain and cardiovascular health. Additionally, it’s high in vitamin C, fiber, vitamin B5, and folate–thought to build and maintain blood cells as well as prevent anemia.
It’s also worth noting that corn itself is a long ways away from high fructose corn syrup, derived from a lot of unappetizing processing and refining. A medium ear, for example, renders just 77 calories and about a gram of fat.
Earlier this week, I caught up with my friend Melissa Schweiger-Kleinman, who’s been busy promoting the Sephora beauty book (which she penned), raising a one-year-old, and maintaining flourishing writing career. Somewhere in there, she’s also been known to make a mean salad or two. I’m not really sure how we got to talking about corn (?!). But I’m very glad we did. Thanks to Melissa, this is what I’ll be making tonight.
Melissa’s toss-it-together corn salad (serves 4-6): (To show this really is as healthy as it sounds, I’ve included a few interesting nutrition facts.)
*4 ears of corn
*1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes (good source of potassium, and vitamins A, C, E, B6, and K)
*Crumbled feta cheese to taste (high in protein, as well as calcium)
*1 ripe avocado (packed with fiber, along with 20 other vitamins and minerals)
*1 can of hearts of palm (rich in iron and zinc)
Boil the corn for about 10 minutes then saw it off the cob with a knife. Cut the tomatoes in halves. Slice open and score the avocado. Cut the heart of palm stalks into bite-size pieces. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl then crumble the feta cheese on top. Serve.
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Camille