Sweet Corn and Oyster Mushroom Salad
From the Ithaca Farmers Market Cookbook by Michael Turback
Serves 4
½ pound tomatoes, quartered
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
5 leaves fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil + 4 tablespoons for the skillet
2 ears of sweet corn
½ pound oyster mushrooms
½ pound mesclun greens
3 ounces Northland Sheep Dairy Bergère Bleu
2 ounces pine nuts, toasted
Coat a cast iron skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place over heat. Add tomatoes. Simmer until much of the liquid is evaporated, then scrape tomatoes from the pan into a heatproof container and set aside to cool.
Once cool, put the tomatoes, vinegar, lemon juice, and basil into a blender and purée. While blender is running, slowly add ½ cup of olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste.
Shuck the corn, leaving the stems on and cook on the grill, turning occasionally until kernels are slightly charred. Remove kernels by holding the stem and placing the tip on a cutting board and shaving them off with a knife. Set aside.
Place skillet on grill with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat to very hot. Prepare mushrooms by cutting off the dirty ends and tearing apart the individual florettes. Place mushrooms in skillet and brown, stirring occasionally, for about 30 seconds. Add corn, stir for 30 seconds, remove and set aside to cool. In a large salad bowl toss the salad greens, corn and mushrooms with the dressing.
Crumble the cheese over the salad and scatter pine nuts over the top. Serve family style from a bowl or divide among 4 salad plates.
This recipe originally appeared in our Summer 2011 issue.
