Grilled Summer Salad with Corn — The July Lunch I’ve Made Every Year Since Helen Proved Me Wrong

A quiet week, which is the kind I've come to value most. No visitors, no milestones, no news that required processing. Just the steady turning of July days, the garden growing, the house settling into its summer shape — windows open, fans humming, the smell of cut grass and warm earth coming in from outside.

I spent Monday morning writing. Not for the blog — just writing. Letters, mostly. I still write letters by hand, on stationery Helen gave me for Christmas, with a pen my father used at the hardware store for thirty years. I write to former students sometimes, when they've written to me first. I write to Paul Corrigan, my colleague from the English department, who retired three years before I did and moved to Stowe and calls once a month to argue about whether Hemingway or Fitzgerald was the better writer. (Hemingway. Obviously. But I let Paul make his case, because that's what colleagues do.)

I made corn bread salad for lunch. It sounds odd and it is odd and it works: cubed cornbread, toasted in the oven, mixed with fresh corn cut off the cob, tomatoes, beans, scallions, and a buttermilk dressing. Helen found the recipe in a magazine three years ago and I dismissed it as "trendy" and then ate three helpings and have made it every July since. I was wrong. It happens. Not often, but it happens.

Helen is reading on the porch every afternoon now. She goes through a novel every two days, which is a pace I find both admirable and slightly alarming. She reads the way I cook — with complete focus, no interruptions, the outside world temporarily suspended. When she finishes a book she sits for a moment, staring at nothing, processing, before she picks up the next one. I've learned not to speak to her during that moment. That moment belongs to the book.

We picked blueberries together on Thursday evening. The bushes are loaded — this is a banner year, the kind of year where you pick until your fingers are purple and your back aches and you still haven't gotten half of them. We picked two gallons. Helen will freeze most of them. I'll use some for pancakes, some for a cobbler, some for the muffins that the grandchildren eat when they visit.

Quiet week. Good week. Blueberries in the freezer, letters in the mail, a wife reading on the porch, a dog sleeping at her feet. July in Vermont. The simple days. The best days.

The cornbread version I described above has its own particular genius, and I won’t pretend otherwise — but it was Helen who first showed me that a salad built around fresh summer corn could be a complete meal, not a side dish, not a curiosity. This grilled corn salad is the one I reach for when the ears are coming in fast and I want something that feels worthy of a quiet July afternoon: a little smoky from the grill, bright from the lime, with just enough heat to keep things interesting. It’s the kind of lunch you eat on the porch and then sit with for a moment before picking up whatever comes next.

Grilled Summer Salad with Corn, Peppers and Chili-Lime Dressing

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 27 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 ears fresh corn, husked
• 2 medium bell peppers (one red, one yellow), halved and seeded
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch planks
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions (about 4 scallions)
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, for grilling
• Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
• For the Chili-Lime Dressing:
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, adjust to taste)
• 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

1. Heat the grill. Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to medium-high heat, about 400°F. Clean and oil the grates well.
2. Prep the vegetables. Brush the corn, pepper halves, and zucchini planks lightly with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Grill the corn and peppers. Place the corn and pepper halves on the grill. Cook the corn, turning every 2–3 minutes, until lightly charred on all sides, about 10–12 minutes total. Grill the peppers skin-side down for 5–6 minutes until softened and charred, then flip for 2 minutes more.
4. Grill the zucchini. Add the zucchini planks to the grill alongside the other vegetables. Cook 3–4 minutes per side until tender with good grill marks. Remove all vegetables from the grill and let cool for 5 minutes.
5. Make the dressing. While the vegetables cool, whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, honey, chili powder, cumin, cayenne (if using), garlic, and salt in a small bowl until smooth and emulsified. Taste and adjust seasoning.
6. Cut and combine. Cut the corn kernels off the cobs into a large bowl. Chop the grilled peppers and zucchini into bite-sized pieces and add to the bowl. Add the cherry tomatoes and scallions.
7. Dress and finish. Pour the chili-lime dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine. Scatter the fresh cilantro over the top. Serve at room temperature or slightly warm — this salad is best the day it’s made.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 218 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 30g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 310mg