Fresh corn makes vegetable medley a scene-stealer for a summer potluck

Look out, summer potluck meals and family reunion food tables! A new blockbuster recipe I've just discovered is sure to start making the rounds.

If the health-appeal factor doesn't wow you, the sheer colorfulness of it will! This recipe would be a sure scene-stealer at any covered-dish occasion.

"Lemony Vegetable Medley" that I prepared last night with the first ears of corn from our very own garden (yes, it finally got as high as an elephant's eye!) is the most inventive and most flavorful dish I've tried in a long time--and that's saying a lot, since we've had some winners lately.

Hubby cast his oft-skeptical glance at the project when I asked him to get some radishes for me in the produce section of the grocery store. He couldn't imagine how sliced radishes would "go" with corn and steamed green beans in this marinated mixture.

He was the first to sing the praises of the dish, however, and wanted more and more. He said it was the most colorful salad he'd ever eaten and that it was like devouring health personified. Can't get better reviews than that!

The ingredient that "made" this medley, however, was the fresh garden corn. How eager we'd been to go out and raid our very own stalks.

The good news was that what we brought in was great and tasted terrific; the bad news was that we'll use it all up in just a couple of dishes. No voluminous corn harvest this year, I'm afraid.

Hubby is bemoaning the fact that he left much of the garden planting to the yard man. In retrospect we can see that our yard man planted things too close together and not as carefully as he should have. The corn, the tomatoes, and the peppers are all tightly bunched without a lot of growing room. (Gardening was not our yard guy's thing and was done in haste so he could quickly get back to mowing.) Hubby resolution: he'll do the planting himself next season and let the yard man stick with mowing. When you care a lot--and he cares bunches--garden-tending's just not something you leave to someone else. We live and learn.

However, we can be thankful for what corn we were able to bring in. And when we dined last night on "Lemony Vegetable Medley" (thanks, "Celebrating a Healthy Harvest" recipe booklet), we enjoyed it down to the very last kernel!

Lemony Vegetable Medley

2 cups corn (about 3 large ears), cooked

2 cups green beans, lightly steamed

1 cups radishes, thinly sliced

1 cup red bell pepper, sliced

Dressing:

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon mustard

2 tablespoons cooking oil

2 tablespoons chives, chopped

pepper to taste

Mix dressing and set aside. Combine vegetables in large bowl. Add dressing and refrigerate for 1 hour. Stir and serve.