Roasted Corn and Smoked Blue Cheese Salad
At my grandparents’ farm in the summer, we’d be out all day shooting BB guns and breaking the windows of abandoned barns. But just before dinner, Grandma would be in her porch rocking chair with a bushel of ears. “Go wash your filthy hands,” she’d say, “and help me shuck this corn.”
California’s peak-season corn is as sweet as candy. Playing with textures, this salad mixes raw and roasted kernels in a pickly marinade. The Sungolds give it a sweet-tart kick, and the watermelon gherkins—tiny, football-shaped cukes—bring crunch. Add creamy cheese and bitter greens, and we’re reaching for all the spokes on the flavor wheel.
Don’t mix this salad too far ahead. You want the flavors together but separate. Throw the herbs in right before serving. If you want herbs to last, treat them like gold. Wrap them in a dry paper towel inside a moist paper towel, then stow them in a ziplock or resealable silicone bag in the fridge and don’t put anything heavy on top. Before they go in the dish, get a little rough with them. Give them a tear.
1. In a 9 inch cast-iron pan over high heat, heat the oil and ghee. Add the shallots and cook them until they’re deep brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle them with 2 big pinches of salt, then toss in half of the corn kernels. Cover the pan, so the corn doesn’t fly out at you, and let it caramelize, stirring once or twice, until it’s browned in spots and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the pepper.
2. With a slotted spoon, transfer the corn mixture to a bowl, then add the raw corn, along with the lemon juice and umeboshi, and toss to fully coat everything. Cover it and stow it in the fridge while you prep the rest of your veg.
3. Halve the tomatoes and gherkins lengthwise, then put them in a serving bowl and sprinkle with a big pinch of salt. Crumble in the blue cheese. Add the corn mixture, mixing so that everything’s well combined. Right before serving, roughly tear and fold in the dandelion greens and basil leaves (either torn or whole), then season the salad with more salt and pepper.
Excerpted from Coastal: 130 Recipes from a California Road Trip by Scott Clark with Betsy Andrews, © 2025. Published by Chronicle Books. Photographs © Cheyenne Ellis.
Originally featured in
A Fine-Dining Veteran’s Love Letter to California’s Central Coast
