This is a quick and easy side dish that goes very well with salty compliments. Cooking this dish in late July to mid August will give you the most intense corn flavors. Your mileage may vary if you try doing this in December, but that will just make you appreciate an in-season vegetable that much more when the season arrives.

     I made this dish a couple different ways, so there are some extra pictures below to give you some ideas. This version had some summer squash and early girl tomatoes, whereas earlier versions had several types of peppers and heirloom tomatoes. It's a pretty forgiving dish to make, so you can pick up whatever looks fresh at the market to put your own spin on this dish. I used this dish as a side for the Sauteed Shrimp and Corn recipe, but it goes particularly well with saltier proteins such as shellfish or steak.

     This dish can easily be made into a vegan dish by using Vegan butter instead of real butter and omitting the bacon.

Ingredients

• Cooking oil (avocado, canola etc...)

• 2tbsp unsalted butter

• 2 slices butcher's bacon

• 2 squash (patty pan was used here, but any summer squash will work)

• 1lbs early girl tomatoes

• 2/3lbs of red bell peppers

• 2 large or 4 small/medium ears fresh corn (preferably still in their husk)

• 1/2 yellow onion

• 1 fresh lime

• 1/2 bunch of chives

Cooking Instructions

Bacon

• In a small to medium pan, cook the bacon over medium-low heat to render the fat out and it just begins to crisp up.

• Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, place on paper towel to drain, reserve for end of recipe

Tomato and Bell Pepper Saute

• In your main cooking pan, heat 3 tbsp of your cooking oil over medium-high heat until shimmering

• Add the peppers and saute until they start to tenderize, 3-5 minutes

• Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes

• Lower the heat to medium and add the tomatoes

• Add the squash

• Add a good pinch of salt, cook them until they've broken down. 7-10 minutes.

Corn

• Melt 2tbsp of butter in a pan over medium heat

• Once the foaming subsides and it becomes aromatic, add the corn and give it a few tosses to coat.

• Add a pinch of salt and let it cook gently over medium heat until tender. 5-10 minutes.

Finishing

• Spoon the tomato, onion and pepper mixture into the corn. Start off with a 2:1 mixture, meaning 2 parts corn, 1 part tomato mixture.

• Gently add your lime juice

• You can also add a splash of champagne vinegar here, but just make sure to balance the acid.

• Add the chopped chives

• Toss to combine

• Adjust seasonings to taste (including lime and vinegar if needed)

The Finished Dish