Grilled Corn with Fireworks Chipotle Tomato Butter and Zucchini Salad

This recipe is a go to for summer barbecues and cook outs. I absolutely love grilled corn on the cob. BUT I hate eating it off the cob because 1. It is messy 2. The corn always gets stuck in my teeth 3. The juices from kernels I bite into never fail to fly across the table and land on someone else. Gross right?! So this ingenious recipe I adapted from America's Test Kitchen has the perfect solution for the grilled corn on the cob issue...You cut the kernels off the cob and add them to the salad after grilling. A much better way to eat grilled corn on the cob if you ask me!

The other things I love about this salad are the grilled zucchini and the garlic dressing. Grilled zucchini is a staple around our dinner table in the summertime. I remember the first time I ever tried it...I was interning during a college summer in Arlington VA and I was visiting my dear friends' parents who had just moved to Maryland. We west coasters had so much fun seeing each other on the east coast and the dinner was so lovely sitting on their new back porch on the 9th fairway. I vowed to always have zucchini on hand in the summers from then on.

Grilled Corn with Fireworks Chipotle Tomato Butter and Zucchini Salad

Prep Time

25 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Yield

Serves 4

Equipment Needed

Grill

Mixing bowl

Tongs for grill

Knives for chopping

Basting Brush

Quantity                    Ingredients

4 Tbs                           Chipotle Tomato Butter

1/3 cup                        Olive Oil

2                                  Chopped Garlic cloves

1/4 tsp                         Red Pepper Flakes

2                                  Ears Corn, husks and silks removed

3                                  Zucchini (8 ounces each) sliced lengthwise into ½ inch thick planks

2 Tbs                           Chopped Fresh Basil

2 tsp                            Red Wine Vinegar

2 Ounces                     Feta Cheese, crumbled (1/2 cup)

Instructions

●      Melt butter and pour into a large mixing bowl or low Pyrex casserole dish. brush 1 Tbs butter on the corn, add zucchini to the remaining butter in the dish and toss to coat.

●      Make dressing: whisk olive oil with red wine vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

●      Heat grill to high and cover. Let heat up about 10-15 minutes.

●      Clean and oil the cooking grate. Place corn and zucchini over separate burners. Reserve any butter mixture in the bowl. Grill uncovered, turning corn every 2-3 minutes, until kernels are lightly charred all over (10-15 minutes total) and zucchini is well browned and tender (not mushy) 4-8 minutes per side.

●      Transfer grilled vegetables to cutting board. Let cool. Cut kernels from cobs. Cut zucchini on the bias into ½ inch slices. Add vegetables to bowl with reserved butter. Stir in the dressing, add basil last and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

●      Transfer to a salad platter and sprinkle with feta.