Sometimes the best recipes are almost coincidence, a perfect marriage of flavours arising from season, abundance, and circumstance.

We’ve been eating lots of corn this summer, mostly boiled briefly and happily gnawed off the cob, but I sometimes add it to salads – it’s particularly lovely with green beans (which make a rather nice salad themselves). We also have a nectarine tree, and one of the few things that grows readily in my somewhat neglected garden is rocket.

So one evening, I vaguely recalled a couple of nectarine salad recipes (and I’ve linked the references below) and added a couple from our tree to a spare corncob and a few handfuls of rocket and ended up with sweet, juicy, crunchy, peppery, tart perfection.

Nectarine, sweetcorn and rocket salad

Originally inspired by a Sprouted Kitchen salad and one in Alana Chernila’s Homemade Kitchen

• 1 large cob of corn
• 2 ripe nectarines
• 100g wild rocket
• large handful of fresh coriander
• 1 spring onion (scallion)
• 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbs fresh lime juice
• sea salt and pepper

The method couldn’t be simpler. Briefly boil the corn until tender. If it’s really young and sweet you could use raw. Slice off the kernels and add to a medium bowl. Slice in the beautifully ripe nectarines – the sort you’d otherwise eat over a sink to not be covered in juice. Add the rocket, roughly chopped coriander and finely sliced spring onion. Whisk together the oil and lime, season to taste, and gently toss through the salad.

Serves 4 as a side