Avocado Tomato Corn Salad

Memorial Day weekend, and Grand Island does Memorial Day the way it does everything: earnestly, without irony, and with a parade down Third Street that has not changed in forty years. Dave and I took the kids. Gayle came too, walking slow but refusing the lawn chair I brought. I will stand, she said. I have been standing at parades since before you were born. She is seventy-three. She stood for the entire parade. Her knees will punish her tomorrow, but today she stood, and that is Gayle.

The parade had fire trucks, the high school marching band, a float from the VFW, and a man on a horse that spooked at the fire truck siren and nearly took out a mailbox. Josie thought it was the best thing she had ever seen. Justin watched the veterans march by and got quiet in a way I recognized but did not address, because Justin quiet is something you do not poke at. You just sit near it and let it be.

Dave grilled, because Memorial Day is a grilling holiday and Dave treats all grilling holidays with the solemnity of a religious observance. Hot dogs and hamburgers, corn on the cob still in the husk thrown directly on the grill the way his dad taught him. I made potato salad, the mustardy kind, not the mayonnaise kind, because this is a hill I will die on. Real potato salad has yellow mustard, hard-boiled eggs, celery, and just enough mayo to hold it together, not drown it.

Gayle brought her baked beans, the recipe she has made for every cookout since 1975. Canned pork and beans dressed up with brown sugar, mustard, ketchup, bacon, and onion, baked in the oven until the top caramelizes. They are sweet and smoky and every person at the table eats them and asks for the recipe and Gayle says it is just beans, as if she has not been perfecting the ratio of brown sugar to mustard for forty years.

After dinner the kids ran around the yard with sparklers, too early for Fourth of July, but sparklers do not follow a calendar when you are six years old. I sat on the porch with Dave and Gayle and watched them run in circles in the dusk, drawing fire in the air, and I thought about my dad Larry, who loves parades and always drove his truck in this one when he could. He is getting older now, slower, but he was there in the hot dogs and the beans and the sound of trucks on the highway a mile away. He is always there. You just have to listen for him in the right places.

The corn Dave threw on the grill that afternoon — still in the husk, just the way his dad taught him — is what got me thinking about this salad. When the cookout crowd is big and the afternoon is hot and you want something that holds its own next to Gayle’s baked beans without requiring you to hover over the stove, this Avocado Tomato Corn Salad is exactly it. It’s the kind of dish that feels festive without trying too hard — which, honestly, is the whole spirit of a Grand Island Memorial Day.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

3 ears fresh corn, husked and kernels cut from the cob (or 2 cups frozen corn, thawed)
2 medium avocados, diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup red onion, finely diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 large lime)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

Prep the corn. If using fresh corn, cut kernels off the cob. For extra flavor, you can char the kernels in a dry skillet over high heat for 3—4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Let cool before assembling.
Dice the avocado. Halve, pit, and dice the avocados into roughly 1/2-inch pieces. Work quickly and add to the bowl promptly to minimize browning.
Combine the vegetables. In a large bowl, combine the corn, avocado, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and cilantro.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using.
Dress and toss. Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss to coat, being careful not to mash the avocado. Taste and adjust salt or lime juice as needed.
Serve immediately. This salad is best served fresh. If making slightly ahead, add the avocado and dressing just before serving to keep it vibrant.

Nutrition (per serving)

Avocado Tomato Corn Salad — The Side Dish That Tastes Like a Backyard in Summer