*Vegan
Sweet corn is everything that’s magical about summer, right up there with bikinis, half-day Fridays, and the ice cream truck. This salad tastes like summer in your mouth: a refreshing burst of basil, mint, fresh fava, avocado, and sweet corn. And it’s actually good for you. The corn and beans combine to make a complete protein and the avocado provides the good fat. Bring this to a cookout, set it next to the basic corn salad, and watch yours disappear like a Penn and Teller illusion.
5 ears of corn, husked and silk removed
2 pounds fresh fava beans, shelled
6 mini seedless (or 1 large) cucumbers, sliced into half-moons
1 avocado, pitted and peeled
½ cup fresh basil leaves
½ cup fresh mint leaves
1 shallot
½ cup water
Juice of 1 lemon
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1. Fill three-quarters of your biggest pot with salty water and bring to a boil. Add the corn and boil for 12 minutes. Remove. Keep the water boiling. Place the corn in a bowl and run cold water over it until cool.
2. Add the fava beans to the boiling water. Cook for 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cut the kernels off the cobs and place in a large salad bowl.
4. Remove the fava beans and run cold water over them until cool. Pop any stubborn beans out of the waxy outer layers if they didn’t come off during the boil and add the beans to the salad bowl. Add the cucumber half-moons.
5. In a food processor, combine the avocado, basil, mint, shallot, water, and lemon juice. Process until you achieve a salad dressing texture.
6. Pour the dressing over the salad. Liberally season with salt and pepper—corn, avocado and cukes really love salt, so give it a little extra.