Brooke's Fresh Jersey Corn and Tomatoes

This past weekend, while driving on Route 40 E back to D.C. from the Jersey shore, we stopped at a roadside stand for some corn and tomatoes. Last night, we made this recipe which I tore out from a recent Real Simple magazine and it was so good it transcended time.

Every summer, for 27 years, I've journeyed to the Jersey shore. When I was kid, we'd stay sometimes as long as three weeks with my entire maternal extended family--25 of us in all. Each afternoon, as my brother and I lounged around reading Choose Your Own Adventure books while recouperating from long hours of sand, sun, and waves, the produce truck would go by and the Jimmy Stewart voice would sound through the bullhorn : "Freeeesh Fruuuits and Vegetables! Jeeeeersey Corn and Tomatoes!" That sound is tatooed on my brain right next to images of cheap white paper plates on brown wicker chargers, lime green corn stickers, my grandma stirring a boiling stockpot of water, and the smiling, happy faces of my family chomping on corn on the cob around a dining room table with the windows open and sea breezes seeping in through the screens. And every August, on this day, we'd finish dinner by celebrating my mom's 29th birthday--again!--but that's a whole other story.

corn, avocado, and tomato salad
Place 2 cups cooked corn in a large bowl. Add 1 diced avocado (1/2-inch pieces), 1 pint halved cherry tomatoes, and 1/2 cup finely diced red onion. In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon lime zest, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Stir the vinaigrette into the salad and serve. Serves 4 to 6.