Chopped salad of iceberg, corn and jalapeño

By: Mike McEnearney
From: Real Food by Mike
Serves: 4
Photographer: Alan Benson

The great thing about a chopped salad is that it’s all meant to be eaten with a fork. Therefore, the best thing to do is to cut all the ingredients the same size. If you can’t barbecue your corn, you can roast it in a hot oven to scald the kernels or just use it boiled. I grill it on the barbecue because I like a smoky flavour in the salad.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
2	corn cobs
4 slices	sourdough bread, cut into 1 cm croutons
1 tablespoon	extra-virgin olive oil
1/2	iceberg lettuce, cut into chunks
2	spring onions, chopped
1	lebanese cucumber, skin on, cut into dice the same size as the corn kernels
8	cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 bunch	mint, leaves picked and torn
1	jalapeño, thinly sliced into rounds
1/4 bunch	coriander, leaves picked and torn
1/2	green capsicum, cut into dice the same size as the corn kernels
2 sheets	nori, toasted under a grill

Dressing

Quantity	Ingredient
175ml	buttermilk
15g	wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoon	mayonnaise
1	spring onion, thinly sliced
1 pinch	togarashi, (see Note)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together – the mixture should coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
In a large saucepan, blanch the corn cobs in boiling water for 2 minutes then remove and set aside.
Heat a barbecue or a chargrill pan to hot and cook the corn until it’s blistered and a little charred on the outside. Remove from the heat and allow the corn to cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife down the length of the cob from top to bottom, shaving the kernels off the cob in one movement to keep them in clusters. Place them in a bowl and set aside.
Toss the croutons in olive oil and bake them on a tray in the oven for about 5–10 minutes, until golden and crisp. Season with a pinch of salt and allow to cool on some paper towel.
To serve, toss all the ingredients, except the nori, gently in a large bowl with the dressing. When everything is coated in the dressing, scatter the salad with torn or shredded pieces of nori.

Note

You can buy togarashi from the Asian section of most grocery stores or from Japanese supermarkets. It’s a mix of chilli powder, sesame seeds, Japanese pepper and ginger.

Medicinal Note

The vitamin A antioxidants in lettuce keep tissue and skin healthy, while beta-carotenoids can help prevent cataracts. Then there’s potassium for balancing body fluids, and manganese to help metabolise amino acids, cholesterol and carbohydrates. Corn is a source of ferulic acid, often used in anti-ageing skin products. Corn also contains vitamin A and beta-carotene for good vision. Chilli has plenty of vitamin C, as well as iron to help carry oxygen throughout the body.

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