Fresh Corn Cakes with Crab + Tomato Salad

Every week, Caroline Wright creates simple, civilized recipes for Food52 that feed four—for under $20, in under 20 minutes.

Today: Caroline makes a meal in celebration of one of summer's sweetest gifts—fresh corn. 

The other day, a friend offered me an ear of corn that he grew in his backyard. (If I needed a reminder that I lived in Texas rather than Brooklyn, this was it.) He had steamed it in its husk, and the plump kernels were sweet and richly golden. That gifted corn made me want to make these cakes, also sweet, crisp and simple in their freshness. A crab and tomato salad, summer’s other warm breeze of flavors, felt like the perfect pair.

Fresh Corn Cakes with Crab + Tomato Salad

Serves 4

4 cups fresh corn kernels (from 4 ears corn) or thawed, frozen kernels, divided
2 large eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 scallions, chopped (whites and greens separated)
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar
8 ounces cooked, fresh crab
1 pound tomatoes (about 3 medium), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn if large

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

As a freelance food writer and cook, I first wrote this style of recipe as a column on my blog, The Wright Recipes, as an excuse to cook good food for my friends in a quick and simple way. 

Twenty-Dollar, Twenty-Minute™ Meals grew into a cookbook that’s being published by Workman in May 2013. The recipes found here are original, made especially for Food52 to once again celebrate simple food with friends.

Photos by Caroline Wright