Monday, August 22, 2011

Corn & Caramelized Onion Salad

Cake, cake and pie, oh my!  Time's been short, and those recipes were just easier to type up :)  Anyways...  this recipe was a surprise hit at a BBQ I went to recently, so I figured you'd want to know about it!  I saw it on food52 earlier in the week and instantly knew what dish I'd be bringing.


Corn & Caramelized Onion Salad
adapted slightly from food52
serves a crowd

I used a mix of cooked and fresh corn kernals here because I didn't have enough corn the night I was preparing this, but liked the combination.  Feel free to use one or the other entirely!

7 ears of corn, divided
1 large red onion, peeled and diced
1-2T extra virgin olive oil
2T balsamic vinegar
scant 2t evaporated cane juice (or granulated sugar)
2oz diced pancetta (I bought mine pre-diced at trader joe's)
3-4T chopped cilantro (I used ~3T fresh frozen cilantro

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Cook 4 ears of corn in boiling water for 3-4min, then plunge into an ice water bath to cool.  Drain and then cut off kernals from both the cooked and raw corn cobs into a large bowl.

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat.  Add diced onions, balsamic, sugar and a dash of salt, stir to coat the onions.  Cook for 2-3min, stirring occasionally, and then reduce heat to medium low.  Cook for 20-25min, until the onions are nice and caramelized.  Remove from pan and set aside to cool.

Add pancetta to the pan and cook on medium heat until brown and crispy.  Drain pancetta on paper towel-lined plates.

Add caramelized onions, pancetta and cilantro to the corn.  Mix well, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.  Garnish with cilantro or parsley, if desired.




What was the last dish you made that was a surprising hit?

20 comments:

Fun and Fearless in Beantown said...

My summer vegetable stacks were surprisingly a "second helping" dish for Bret...and he doesn't even like eggplant!

Victoria said...

It should not be a surprise that this was a hit - caramelized onions? Nice.

Maris (In Good Taste) said...

I totally see why this was a hit!

Elizabeth said...

Mmm, corn and caramelized onion, I wouldn't be averse to some cheese too!

Candace said...

Mmmmm! We make corn salad around here but never with caramelized onion and never with pancetta. Those are amazing additions that we will definitely be trying!

Lauren @ Healthy Food For Living said...

This sounds like a fabulous sweet/savory summer side dish! I might put leftovers into a quesadilla with some monterey jack cheese ;).

I made Ashley's (from the Edible Perspective) sweet potato black bean burgers a little while ago, and John loved them... this from a man who rarely enjoys veggie burgers! Surpirse hits are always fun :).

Unknown said...

@Lauren- that sounds like a fabulous idea!! too bad there was no chance of leftovers :)

Anonymous said...

The corn salad sounds wonderful with caramelized onions and pancetta, excellent!

Kelly said...

I definitely subscribe to the philosophy that EVERYTHING is better with caramelized onions. And then add some pancetta and I'm easily sold. This sounds like a winning combination.

The Purple Carrot said...

The words caramelized, and onion used together drew me into this post ... yum!! Sounds amazing.

Joanne said...

Caramelized onions make everything taste good, I'm convinced. Not that corn really needs any help.

Emily @ A Cambridge Story said...

This sounds incredible!! I love new and interesting ways to use corn this time of year when I'm a little tired of plain corn on the cob.

Lisa (bakebikeblog) said...

oh my - now THIS looks delish!

Delicious Dishings said...

That sounds amazing! I have been wanting to make a corn dish like this ever since I had the one at Tico.

I made a really good veggie pasta last night (recipe to come), and I was shocked at how much I enjoyed it.

We Are Not Martha said...

Corn and caramelized onion is definitely one of my favorite flavor combinations. This salad sounds perfect!

Sues

Larissa said...

I've been on a bit of a run for requests for my hot vanilla milk around here...which was totally my own concoction.
This looks like a great combination of flavors!

Lizzy said...

The corn cakes I made last night were surprisingly delicious!!!

I love this idea with corn and caramelized onion - I will have to try this : )

Kristen said...

so simple and so delicious looking. glad it was a hit!

Raquelita said...

Oh, that sounds so yummy! I'm going to have to bookmark this to try soon.

Kerstin said...

The caramelized onions and pancetta sound so amazing in this! Food52 is such a great site :)

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