Skip to main content

Corn, Plum, and Farro Salad with Nuoc Cham Dressing

4.5

(2)

VeggiesCorn Plum and Farro Salad with Nuoc Cham Dressing Recipe
Photograph by Yudi Ela, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Aneta Florczyk

This super-summery grain salad is easy to switch up: Stone fruits like peaches or nectarines would be just as good as plums, and other grains like quinoa are an easy swap for the farro. Typically a dipping sauce, nuoc cham is used in a variety of ways in Vietnamese cooking, which inspired the tangy, sweet, and salty condiment’s use as a dressing in this recipe. —Rachel Gurjar

What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Yield

    4 Servings

Ingredients

Nuoc Cham

Juice of 2 limes
3 Tbsp. fish sauce
2 Tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. light or dark brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

salad and assembly

½ cup semi-pearled farro
1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more
3 ears of corn, husked
4 red plums (such as satsuma or Santa Rosa), cut into wedges
2 red or green Thai chiles, thinly sliced
⅓ cup chopped mint
½ cup chopped Thai basil or cilantro, plus leaves for serving

Preparation

  1. Nuoc cham

    Step 1

    Whisk lime juice, fish sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and garlic in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved; set dressing aside.

    Do ahead: Dressing can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

  2. salad and assembly

    Step 2

    Bring farro, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1 quart water to a boil in a medium pot. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until farro is tender but still chewy, 20–25 minutes. Drain off any excess liquid and let cool.

    Step 3

    Prepare a grill for medium-high heat. Grill corn, turning occasionally, until kernels are charred, 10–15 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let sit until cool enough to handle. Cut kernels from cobs.

    Step 4

    Combine farro, corn, plums, chiles, mint, and ½ cup Thai basil in a large bowl and drizzle reserved dressing over; toss to coat. Taste and season salad with more salt if needed. Transfer to a platter and top with more Thai basil leaves.

    Do ahead: Farro can be cooked 1 day ahead. Transfer to an airtight container; cover and chill.

Read More
A luxuriously creamy and bright dressing made with aquafaba, miso, and crunchy poppy seeds makes a star out of summer produce.
Because most of us do!
The contrast of serving a grilled vegetable ice-cold is thrilling, and the Caesar dressing is rich and thick enough to cling longingly to each leaf of cabbage.
Thinly sliced and cooked hot and fast, pork tenderloin is the juicy, cook-quicking weeknight champion of this vegetable-heavy stir-fry.
Try Komal’s pan de elote recipe with fresh corn and rice flour; a Mexican sweet corn cake topped with silky corn whipped cream.
On a hot day, nothing satisfies quite like cold noodles in iced broth.
A punchy vinaigrette of preserved lemon and hot chile animates seared zucchini. A simple solution for summer's most prolific vegetable.
A weeknight-friendly chicken dinner with two kinds of vinegar, dried figs, and a rich sauce. It’s restaurant-quality food in just 30 minutes.