Summer Staple: Peach and Corn Salad

Surviving the end of the school year left me pretty burnt out on potlucks. It seemed like every meeting, every occasion that required more than 2 people to come together was suddenly an opportunity to force everyone to come up with an entree, salad or dessert that could feed a crowd and check a few boxes on the dietary restrictions. A few are just fine, but ours were in excess. Thankfully, summer comes and offers a reprieve from all sorts of obligatory chores and errands, when nights with friends mean potlucks in their purest form; a collection of standard favorites and newcomers alike, when you know you can try out an ambitious new recipe or show up with beer and the standard potluck copout - chips and salsa and no one will mind.

It's useful for occasions like this to have a few recipes that you know can be tinkered with to fit in nicely with the other choices and show off some of the best parts of the season. This salad has become that for us over the years. Freshly shucked raw corn and sweet juicy peaches are transformed into a versatile salad/topping that seems to work, regardless of what they're paired with. Although basil is a standard addition, we like it with a pinch of cumin and chili powder mixed into the vinaigrette and topped with avocado for taco night, or thrown together with some penne for an easy summer picnic lunch.

Ingredients:

• 5 ears chilled corn, shucked and well cleaned
• 3 peaches that are just ripe or not quite ripe, pitted and chopped into slightly smaller than dice-sized pieces
• 1/4 cup avocado or mild olive oil
• 4 tablespoons champagne vinegar
• quite a bit of fresh ground black pepper, around 1/2 tsp
• handful of basil, roughly chopped

Instructions:

Find a large, shallow bowl and use a sharp paring knife to cut down the cob, letting the kernels fall into the bowl. Work your way around the cob, getting off as many kernels as possible. Add the chopped peaches to the corn and gently mix. Combine the oil, champagne vinegar and pepper whisking very well. Drizzle over the salad, combining carefully. Just before serving, add the chopped basil. Serve chilled. Stores well in the fridge for a few days.