A CO-STAR salad made in three parts - the fresh, crunchy, bitey stuff, the buttery, oily, salty stuff, and the creamy, tangy dressing. It's robust, it's delicious, it's moreish, it's tangy, it's cheesy, and perfect with something nice like roast chicken.
Serves: 6 - 8 as a side
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cabbage, shaved as finely as you can
2 Lebanese cucumbers, finely sliced on a mandolin
1/2 cup dill, roughly chopped
180g block Greek feta, crumbled
For the buttery garlicky corn
3 corn cobs
1 cup curly parsley, finely chopped (about 1 bunch)
2 spring onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
25g butter
pinch of salt
juice of 1 lime
For the creamy dressing
1/4 cup Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
1 tbsp chives, finely chopped
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
To finish
1/4 cup crispy fried shallots (the packet ones are fine)
extra virgin olive oil, for gloss
METHOD
Shave the cabbage as finely as you can - you can do this with a knife, a mandolin or a peeler, you just want really fine cabbage. Run the cucumbers across the mandolin as well, so they're quite fine. Because these have been sliced, you don't want them sitting out. Put them straight into a bowl, lay a damp paper towel over the top and pop them in the fridge to let all of the cut edges crisp up. Add the dill.
Boil the corn until just tender.
Meanwhile, put the parsley and spring onions into a bowl. Simmer or microwave the garlic in the olive oil and butter with the salt until just crispy and delicious. Pour the hot garlicky oil over the herbs and toss well.
Once the corn is cooked, cut the kernels off each ear and pop them straight into the bowl. Don't forget to milk the corn by scraping your knife along the cob - it gets all that beautiful corny juice out of the inside and all the extra little bits of flavour. Add the lime juice, toss well, season again and set aside.
For the dressing, swirl together the yoghurt, mayonnaise, chives, vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. You're halfway to a homemade ranch dressing at this point.
Right before serving, crumble the feta into the cabbage, cucumber and dill and toss it through. Then toss through the buttery, garlicky corn, drizzle with half the dressing and toss again. Sprinkle with the fried shallots, then top with the rest of the dressing and some extra virgin olive oil for gloss.
HINTS
If you're making this ahead for a picnic or a barbecue, my strongest advice is to keep all of the elements separate. Crumble the feta into the cabbage no more than half an hour ahead, and add the corn and dressing right before serving.
Covering the freshly sliced cabbage and cucumber with a damp paper towel in the fridge lets all the cut edges crisp up.
I use Japanese mayonnaise in the dressing, so it's got quite a bit of seasoning. The dressing is tangy, creamy, salty and has depth, but it's not rich and heavy.
NUTRITION (per recipe total - guide only):
Energy: approx. 2,260 kcal (9,450 kJ)
Protein: approx. 55g
Fat: approx. 175g
Carbohydrate: approx. 123g
This nutrition information is a guide only and may vary depending on brands, exact quantities, and ingredient substitutions used.