sweet summer corn salad

it is the first time in over a year that i am again working full time (ish) hours. so between working on my feet, my bike commute, walking my dog for hours, teaching & practicing yoga and cross training, my days often turn into 100% activity. sitting becomes an unknown luxury i can not afford. i love all my activities, i really do. but life can get exhausting. my dog is a large responsibility, and now being single, she is my handful and mine alone. it's difficult to find time for myself to cook or clean or do 'house stuff' without her whining for attention. there are only so many seven-dollar bully bones that i can afford to keep her occupied... (so this is why young parents let their homes go to crap. duh!) and until recently, i've always been one to pack gourmet lunches for work, but now the lazy route of eating at my restaurant has it's appeal. thank goodness we have great food! i could happily subsist off of our quiche and moroccan chickpea salad. but i try to make time a few times a week for cooking projects at home. this week, i bought a bushel of corn. well, not literally. but i got a little over zealous when i realized that local sweet corn was finally available. anyhow, i could eat corn on the cob for a week, or!! or i could make something new. something exciting... this salad has great complexity in flavors and textures, while still remaining simple. you must try it! 

raw corn, radish and beet salad with an herbed avocado-buttermilk dressing:

dressing ~ makes 2 cups: 

1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup almond or rice milk)

1 avocado, pitted 

1/2 cup parsley, stems removed

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon capers

salt and pepper to taste

mix all ingredients together in blender to combine, leave some specks of parsley. 

salad:

4 ears corn

1 bunch radish

1 bunch baby chioggia beets

1 tablespoon capers, drained

cut kernels of corn from cob and add to large salad bowl. coat with 1/3 cup of the dressing. using excellent knife skills or a mandoline, finely slice the raw radishes and beets into very thin rounds. sprinkle over the salad and garnish with capers and extra parsley. for presentation, i liked just the dressing on the corn, but if you prefer, you could mix all ingredients together to coat with the dressing. 

you will have plenty of left over salad dressing. either scale it down by 1/4 if you wish to not have leftovers, as the dressing will only keep for a 3-4 days in the fridge. or, use the dressing in veggie wraps, on salad greens, over eggs, in a sandwich or as a dip for raw veggies. delicious! 

a note: i enjoy sweet corn raw in salads. if your corn is less sweet or if eating raw corn weirds you out for some reason, simply blanch your corn in boiling water for 3 minutes, drain and let cool completely before dressing.