White Balsamic Blueberry, Corn and Feta Salad

Pioneer Day 2025. I've been marking this holiday in this diary for nine years now, which is a significant span — the same parade, the same potato salad, the same accumulation of generations around the yard. Gary and I are the established ones now, the ones with children who are adults and one still in middle school. Gary's parents are eighty. My dad has slowed down in the way that parents do after seventy-five. The generation above us is getting quieter. The generation below us is getting louder.

Ethan came and brought Mia, his sous chef, who it turns out is also someone he's been seeing for six months and who I suspected before he said so because of the way he talked about the restaurant and she kept being in the conversation. She is excellent. She has opinions about food that are different from his and argues them well and he listens and argues back and the kitchen at Table, I suspect, is better for the disagreement. She came to dinner and ate the potato salad and said, "This is why he makes potato salad the way he makes it." Ethan looked faintly embarrassed. I said, "He learned well." They're good together. I can tell.

Noah made the corn. He grilled it — the first year he's used the grill independently, which Gary supervised from three feet away without interfering, which is the proper position for that particular parenting moment. The corn was charred in exactly the right places.

Twenty years. The same potato salad. The same holiday. The family that keeps growing around it.

Noah’s grilled corn was the moment of the afternoon for me — that first year at the grill, the char in exactly the right places, Gary holding back just enough. It felt right to build something around that corn this year, something that could sit alongside the potato salad without competing with it, something new enough to mark where we are now. This White Balsamic Blueberry, Corn and Feta Salad has become that dish: summer-bright, a little unexpected, and the kind of thing that makes Mia and Ethan lean over the bowl and start talking about acid balance and sweetness, which is exactly the kind of conversation I want at my table.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

3 ears fresh corn, husked
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Grill the corn. Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Place husked corn directly on the grates and cook, turning occasionally, for 8–10 minutes until kernels are tender and lightly charred in spots. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.
Cut the kernels. Stand each ear upright in a large bowl and slice the kernels off the cob using a sharp knife, letting them fall directly into the bowl.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper until well combined.
Assemble the salad. Add the blueberries, crumbled feta, red onion, and torn basil to the bowl with the corn. Drizzle the dressing over the top and toss gently to combine.
Rest and serve. Let the salad sit for 5 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

Nutrition (per serving)

White Balsamic Blueberry, Corn and Feta Salad — The Summer Side That Earned Its Place at the Table