Charred Corn, Lime & Harissa Salad

There are few things that taste more like late summer than sweetcorn cooked until the edges are properly charred. Add lime, fresh dill and a spoonful of our North African-style Red Chilli Harissa and you have most of what you need for a very good lunch.

This is more inspiration than recipe. The quantities are deliberately forgiving: sweetcorn, cucumber, tomatoes and avocado make up the bulk of it, with spring onion and plenty of dill for freshness. The dressing is simply our harissa loosened with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and sharpened with lime.

Sweetcorn is still in season into early October, so make it now while the corn is sweet and the weather is still good enough to eat outside.

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Ingredients

Serves 4

• 4 fresh sweetcorn cobs
• 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cucumber, roughly chopped
• 1 ripe avocado, cut into generous chunks
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• Large handful fresh dill, roughly chopped, plus a little to finish
• 2 tbsp Olives Et Al Red Chilli Harissa
• 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Juice of 1 lime
• Finely grated zest of ½ lime
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Char the corn. Heat a large frying pan, griddle or barbecue until very hot. Add the sweetcorn and cook, turning regularly, until the kernels are tender and well charred in places. Don't be shy about the blackened bits — they're the best part.
2. Make the dressing. Put the Red Chilli Harissa into a small bowl and stir in the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and lime juice. Add the lime zest and a good pinch of sea salt. Taste and adjust with a little more lime or harissa if you fancy.
3. Cut the corn. Leave the cobs for a few minutes until they're cool enough to handle, then stand each one upright and carefully slice the kernels away from the cob with a sharp knife.
4. Bring it together. Put the charred corn into a large bowl with the tomatoes, cucumber, avocado and spring onions. Add most of the dill.
5. Dress generously. Pour over the harissa dressing and toss gently, taking care not to turn the avocado to mush. Taste and add more salt, lime or harissa as needed.
6. Finish with dill. Scatter over the remaining dill and serve straight away, preferably somewhere warm and outside.

A Little Extra

The beauty of this is in the char. Let the corn get properly blackened before you turn it — those smoky, caramelised edges are what make the sweetness of the corn sing.

And don't feel obliged to stick too closely to the quantities. A little more cucumber, another handful of tomatoes, more harissa if you like things hot. It's more inspiration than recipe — just good things that happen to get on rather well together.

How to Make It