Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

My son, Blake, just reminded me the other day that it is time to start buying fireworks. This immediately got me to thinking about the menu for our upcoming July 4th BBQ and the creamy Honey Lime Dressing (made with hemp seeds!) that goes on top of my Grilled Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad. Blake is crazy for the sweet and creamy hemp seed dressing and puts it on just about everything. I always say I am going to make more during the year but then for whatever reason I forget about it until we get ready for the July 4th BBQ.

Unlike typical creamy salad dressings, my Honey Lime Dressing is dairy free and gets its creaminess from “superfood” hemp seeds (Note: be sure to read HERE why hemp seeds absolutely deserve their “superfood’ status!) The dressing takes less than 5-minutes to make and always goes over well with everyone, even our not-so-into-clean-eating guests.  Buy hemp seeds online at Nutiva.

For a few years now I have actually served the exact same July 4th menu, but really it is the perfect summer menu for any casual outdoor get together. The recipe for my July 4th Grilled Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing is below and my full July 4th / Outdoor Summer Party menu with recipes can be viewed HERE.

Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

Serves: 6

Honey Lime Dressing

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4  cup cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons hemp seeds
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons raw honey
• 3 pitted dates
• 3 tablespoons water
• Unrefined sea salt, to taste

Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender (such as a Vitamix) and process until smooth and creamy. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. Note the Honey Lime Dressing can be made in advance and stored in covered container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.

Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad

• 4 ears corn
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• Cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, for brushing corn and tomatoes
• Unrefined sea salt, to taste
• 3 cups arugula or mache lettuce
• 2 cups butter lettuce, chopped
• ¼ red onion, finely chopped
• ½ cup finely chopped walnuts

How to Grill the Corn & Tomatoes:

• Heat the grill to medium-high.
• Brush the corn and tomatoes with oil and season with salt to taste. Individually wrap each corn on the cob in aluminum foil. Place tomatoes in the center of an 18 x12 sheet of foil; bring the two long sides of the foil together and seal with a double fold. Fold remaining edges together to completely enclose tomatoes.
• Place the corn and tomatoes on the grill. Close the cover. Grill tomatoes for 10 to 15 minutes, or until soft and grill corn for 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes, or until kernels are tender when pierced with a paring knife. Remove the kernels from the cob (see notes below.)
• Set corn kernels and tomatoes on paper towels to drain excess liquid and to cool. Add corn and tomatoes to the salad only once they are at room temperature.

How to remove corn kernels from cob: To remove kernels from cobs of either raw or cooked corn, stand cob upright on its stem end in a large pan, holding tip with fingers. Cut down the sides of cob with sharp paring knife, releasing kernels without cutting into cob.

Toss the arugula (or mache lettce), butter lettuce and red onion together in a large mixing bowl.  Top with grilled (or roasted) corn and tomatoes. Drizzle salad with honey lime dressing and gently toss to coat. Sprinkle walnuts on top and serve.