Smoked Sweet Corn Salad with Pepperoncini & Fresh Herbs

A smoky, colorful salad featuring grilled sweet corn and green onions, tossed with pepperoncini, radishes, cucumbers, and fresh cilantro, finished with a bright tarragon-lime vinaigrette and crunchy roasted corn kernels.

Recipe Information

Total Time:

Yield:

8 serving

Ingredients

1 cup apple wood smoking chips

¼ cup tarragon vinegar

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon lime zest

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, divided

1 teaspoon coarse black pepper, divided

½ medium shallot, thinly sliced

4 ears of sweet corn, husks and silk removed

2 bunches green onions, trimmed

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 pepperoncini peppers, drained, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 or 3 red radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 mini cucumbers, thinly sliced

1 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves, plus additional for garnish

½ cup coarsely chopped roasted or deep-fried dried corn kernels

Directions

Soak wood chips in water for at least 1 hour.
For vinaigrette, in a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, olive oil, lime zest and juice, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Stir in shallot and set aside.
Preheat charcoal or gas grill for direct cooking over medium heat (350°F).
Drain wood chips. Place wood chips on one-half of an 18-inch-square double sheet of heavy foil. Fold other half of foil up and over to cover wood chips. Seal edges with a double fold. Polk large holes on top of packet to allow smoke to come out. Place foil packet on grill rack over direct heat.
When foil packet begins to smoke, brush corn and green onions with vegetable oil. Season with remaining ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Place vegetables on grill rack with foil smoke packet. Grill green onions for 3 to 4 minutes and corn for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly charred on all sides, turning frequently. Remove from grill; cool slightly.
Using a sharp knife, cut corn kernels from the cobs in large shards; place in large bowl. Coarsely chop green onions; add to corn in bowl. Drizzle with vinaigrette; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
To serve, add pepperoncini peppers, radishes, cucumbers and 1 cup cilantro to corn mixture; toss to coat. Transfer to a medium serving bowl; garnish with roasted or deep-fried dried corn kernels and additional cilantro, if desired.