Salt and pepper tomato and corn salad
Salt and pepper tomato and corn salad
Tomatoes and corn understandably headline summer cooking, but the season is long, and there are never enough ways to eat these two seasonal stars. This recipe offers something a bit different – whole small tomatoes are flash fried with aromatics, brought just to the brink of rupturing and are then tossed with corn, which are also barely fried, just enough to bring out sweetness. The juicy mixture is served on top of crunchy leafy greens and earthy black eyed peas. Feel free to use other legumes such as chickpeas, cannellini beans or lentils – if you want a lighter salad, you can omit. The salad topper is when the real surprise arrives – Chinese salt and pepper mix, the same mix you’d use for salt and pepper tofu/eggplant/etc, is scattered over the whole salad, bringing its signature tingly saltiness and sweetness.
Serves 4
gluten free, vegan
Ingredients
- neutral oil such as vegetable
- 20g (1 inch piece) fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 scallions, white and green parts separated and sliced into 1-inch/2.5cm pieces
- 300g small tomatoes such as cherry or grape
- 4 ears of corn, kernels removed (about 4 cups kernels)
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
- 2 big handfuls of salad leaves
- 280g cooked black eyed peas (1 ½ cups / from 1 can, drained)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
Sichuan pepper salt
- 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, ground
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
To make the Sichuan pepper salt, combine the ground Sichuan peppercorns, sea salt, sugar and white pepper in a small bowl and stir to combine.
Heat a wok or large frypan (skillet) on medium high heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil along with the ginger and white parts of the scallion. Toss for 30 seconds until fragrant, and then add the tomatoes, stir-frying for 1 minute until slightly softened, but still intact. Add the corn, garlic, green parts of the scallions and tamari or soy sauce, and toss until the corn is slightly softened, tastes sweet, but is still crisp, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
On a large plate or serving platter, lay out the lettuce, top with the black eyed peas and top with the corn and tomato mixture. Drizzle with sesame oil and scatter over the Sichuan pepper salt.
Serve warm or at room temperature.