Grilled Asparagus & Corn Salad

Before turning on the grill or doing anything else, prepare the shallots first — they need the most passive time. Peel the shallots, slice them in half from root to tip, then cut each half into thin semicircles — as thin as possible, ideally on a mandoline set to the thinnest setting. At paper-thin thickness, the shallot has an almost translucent delicacy that is visually striking in the finished salad and provides a crisp, clean bite rather than the assertive crunch of thicker-cut raw onion. Fill a large bowl with cold water and add a generous handful of ice cubes. Submerge all the sliced shallots in the ice water and leave them there for the entire duration of the grill preparation and cooking. This technique — soaking raw onion or shallot in ice water — is one of the most useful in fresh salad preparation. The ice-cold water draws out the most pungent, sharp sulfurous compounds from the cut shallot cells — the same compounds responsible for the eye-watering intensity of raw onion — and replaces the cell fluid with clean, cold water. After 15–20 minutes, the shallot rings taste remarkably milder, sweeter, and more pleasant than they did raw, while becoming noticeably crisper in texture. They retain all the shallot flavour without any harsh edge. When ready to use, drain the shallots and dry them gently but thoroughly with a clean kitchen towel — excess water would dilute the vinaigrette and produce a watery dressing pool in the salad bowl.

Light the grill and allow it to reach a medium-high temperature — hot enough to develop visible char marks and caramelise the vegetable surfaces, but not so aggressively hot that the outside chars instantly before the interior has a chance to cook and soften. Asparagus specifically benefits from a temperature that allows some internal steaming while the exterior chars — too intense a heat produces beautifully charred asparagus spears that are still raw and fibrous in the centre. Trim the woody bottom ends from the asparagus stalks — bend each spear gently near the base and it will snap naturally at the point where the tender stalk meets the fibrous woody end. Once trimmed, cut the asparagus into 2–3 inch pieces — this length fits comfortably on a grill without falling through the grates, provides a good char-to-surface-area ratio, and produces pieces that are the right size for a forkful salad rather than requiring additional cutting. Husk the corn cobs completely and remove all silk strands. Brush all surfaces of both corn cobs and all the asparagus pieces generously with olive oil, turning to coat every angle. The oil coating serves as both a charring agent — fat conducts heat efficiently and helps the vegetables’ natural sugars caramelise rapidly on contact with the hot grates — and a sticking preventive that allows the vegetables to be flipped and turned without tearing against the metal.

While the grill heats, make the vinaigrette so it has time to rest and the flavours can incorporate while you grill. In a small bowl or jar, combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, Dijon mustard, honey, and grated garlic. Whisk together until fully combined. Add the olive oil in a thin, steady stream while whisking continuously, or seal in a jar and shake vigorously for 20–30 seconds until lightly emulsified. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste — the vinaigrette should be bright and clean with the lemon as the primary character, the Dijon providing fermented sharpness, and the honey providing just enough sweetness to round the acidity without making the dressing sweet. The full recipe technique is detailed at Simple Lemon Vinaigrette. This recipe uses the full single-batch quantity to dress 8 servings of grilled vegetables rather than the original 4 servings of salad greens — grilled vegetables absorb dressing differently from delicate greens and benefit from the full quantity. Set aside at room temperature.

Place the whole corn cobs on the hottest section of the grill. The corn requires the most time and the least intervention of all the vegetables — it needs to rotate slowly around its circumference so every section of the cob develops char marks and the kernels caramelise. Leave each cob undisturbed for 2–3 minutes until the side facing down has developed clearly visible char marks and the kernels at the grill contact points have darkened to a deep golden-brown. Rotate a quarter turn and repeat, working around the circumference until every angle of the cob is lightly charred and caramelised — approximately 10–12 minutes total for a full rotation. The target for the corn is kernels that have gone from raw yellow to golden-charred with some deep brown spots, and a smell of sweet, caramelised corn rather than raw or burnt. Remove when charred all around and allow to cool slightly on a board. Using a sharp knife, cut the kernels from the cob: stand the cob upright on one end and cut downward with long, firm strokes along the cob, cutting deep enough to take the full kernel without going all the way to the cob core. Rotate and repeat until all kernels are removed. The cut kernels will have a mix of individual grains and small attached clusters — this variation in piece size adds textural interest to the salad.

Place the oiled asparagus pieces on the grill in a single layer — perpendicular to the grill grates rather than parallel, so they rest across multiple grate bars and cannot fall through. Leave undisturbed for 2 minutes until char marks develop on the bottom surface, then turn each piece with tongs and char for a further 1–2 minutes. Give one more turn and char for a final 1 minute so the asparagus has visible char marks from multiple angles rather than only on two flat sides. The correctly grilled asparagus should have dark, caramelised char marks on several surfaces, be slightly flexible and softened when gently pressed — not floppy or mushy, and not still-firm and raw — and smell of caramelised, slightly grassy, smoky green vegetable. Total grilling time for asparagus pieces at this size is approximately 5–7 minutes. Watch the thinnest tips of the cut pieces closely — they are the first to over-char. If any tips are becoming very dark while the rest of the piece is still firm, move them to a cooler zone of the grill.

Stack all the mint leaves and basil leaves together into two separate stacks. Roll each stack tightly lengthwise into a compact cylinder — the chiffonade technique — and slice through the rolled stack in thin, perpendicular cuts to produce fine herb ribbons. The cut should be made with a sharp knife in smooth, clean strokes without pressing down onto the herbs, which would bruise and darken them. This chiffonade cut releases the herbs’ aromatic oils along the cut edge while keeping the ribbons intact and visually beautiful in the finished salad. Mint and basil both darken rapidly once their cells are cut and exposed to air — prepare them at the last possible moment before the final assembly stage.

Transfer all the warm grilled asparagus pieces and corn kernels to a large salad bowl. Drain the ice-water shallots, squeeze gently, and dry thoroughly with a clean towel. Add the dried shallots to the bowl with the warm vegetables. Pour the lemon vinaigrette over everything and toss with two large salad spoons using a lifting and turning motion, distributing the dressing evenly across all vegetables. The warm vegetables will absorb the dressing more readily than cold — this warm-dressing contact is what allows the lemon and Dijon flavours to penetrate the asparagus and corn rather than simply sitting on the surface. Add approximately two-thirds of the crumbled feta and all of the chiffonade-cut mint and basil. Fold these additions through the salad with 4–5 very gentle strokes — lifting from the bottom and laying over the top without pressing or compressing. The goal is even distribution of herb and feta through the salad without mashing the feta into a creamy paste that coats everything or bruising the herb ribbons into dark, crushed fragments. Taste and adjust salt and lemon at this stage. Transfer to a serving platter or serve directly from the bowl. Crumble the remaining one-third of the feta across the top surface and scatter extra whole mint leaves over the top. Serve immediately while the vegetables are still warm.