By The last week of August in Boston has a particular quality — a held breath, like the city knows what's coming. The tourists are mostly gone. The students are about to arrive in seventeen million numbers to clog every sidewalk with rolling luggage. The Red Sox are still technically in the playoff picture, which means Sean Sr. is watching every game with focused optimism.
Sean D. went back to school for pre-service days — Boston Latin starts faculty orientation before Labor Day, and he takes it seriously the way he takes everything school-related seriously. He called Tuesday night while I was making dinner and talked for twenty minutes about his new AP History syllabus. I stirred the pot and said uh-huh in all the right places and meant every one of them. Watching someone love their work is its own kind of comfort food.
On the floor this week, I had a patient who'd been with us since March transferred to inpatient hospice. This is not a failure when it happens. I've been doing oncology long enough to understand that, even when understanding doesn't make it easier. I drove home after that shift and sat in my car for a while. Then I went upstairs and made corn on the cob because it was the last week of real summer corn, and eating the last corn of the season felt like the right acknowledgment — summer ending, things ending, the way everything ends and begins again.
I ate it with an unconscionable amount of butter and a cold beer, standing at the kitchen sink. Eating alone is different from lonely eating. I have learned to tell the difference. The corn was perfect — sweet and slightly charred, tasting exactly like what August corn should taste like. I had two more pieces. August deserved a proper send-off.
That corn was doing something for me that nothing else could have that night — it was summer in a form I could hold onto for a few more minutes. If you’re standing at the tail end of August with good corn and a grill, this is exactly what you should make. A little char, a lot of butter, and no apologies for the mess — this is the kind of vegetarian grilling that doesn’t ask anything of you except to show up and pay attention while it’s still here.
Vegetarian Grill Recipes
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 ears fresh corn, husks pulled back and silks removed
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus more for serving
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- Olive oil, for brushing
Instructions
- Heat the grill. Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to medium-high heat (about 400°F). Clean and oil the grates well.
- Make the herb butter. In a small bowl, mix together the softened butter, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper until fully combined. Set aside.
- Prep the corn. Brush each ear of corn lightly with olive oil all over. Pull the husks back up around the corn or leave them pulled back for more char — both work well.
- Grill the corn. Place ears directly on the grill grates. Cook for 12–15 minutes, turning every 3–4 minutes, until the kernels are tender and lightly charred in spots.
- Butter and serve. Remove corn from the grill and immediately slather each ear generously with the herb butter. Season with an extra pinch of flaky salt and serve at once.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 210 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 310mg