Hands-On Superlative Summer Salad Starter

• 1/2 bell pepper
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1 scallion or small sweet onion
• 1 or 2 ears fresh sweet corn
• few sprigs genovese basil (also try a few shiso leaves if you like them)
• sprig dill (if you have it and like it)
• 5 leaves kale
• generous splashes vinegar (anything but white distilled) or lemon juice
• few tablespoons good flavorful olive oil (or try part olive part squash seed)
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon dijon or brown mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey (approx)
• your choice in the contents of your refrigerator, market basket, garden, CSA box, etc. Good bets are carrots, cabbage, lettuce, more cucumber, tomatoes, snap peas, green beans. It's a rare time of year when you can get all of these at once, but almost al

1. Scrape the kernels off the corn, into a bowl.
2. Roll the kale and basil (and shiso) leaves and cut thinly. In other words, chiffonade. Add them to the corn.
3. Mince the pepper, add to the bowl.
4. Thinly slice the scallion, white and green parts. As thinly as you can, perpendicular to the length (some would say this is "crosswise" or "horizontal") so you're making circles. Then roughly chop again. Add to the bowl.
5. Dice the cucumber (peel if you must, but I never bother) into 1/4-inch bits, add to the rest.
6. Drizzle your oil, acid (vinegar or lemon juice), generous pinches of salt and fresh ground black pepper over the vegetables. Add a dollop of good mustard and a little honey. Then massage this into them a bit. Let there be enough oil and acid to puddle up below the veggies, this becomes the divine dressing when the pepper and cucumber juices start to seep in.
7. Let this sit for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare lettuce and other leafy greens by washing and drying, then pre-dressing them with a touch of oil, salt and pepper (toss around with your hands). Dig around your fridge for other vegetables. Shred carrots, beets, zucchini, kohlrabi, cabbage, radishes, etc. Add cooked beans, chickpeas, or grains, too!
8. Add some or all of the starter (what you created first, in the bowl) and a proportionate amount of the juice that's collected at the bottom, use your hands (salad tongs are just not as effective). Enjoy the direct connection with summer's bounty.

bell pepper, cucumber, scallion, corn, basil, dill, kale, generous, olive oil, salt, brown mustard, honey, your choice

Taken from food52.com/recipes/23468-hands-on-superlative-summer-salad-starter (may not work)