Corn & Caramelized Onion Salad

Cake, cake and pie, oh my!  Time's been short, and those recipes were just easier to type up :)  Anyways...  this recipe was a surprise hit at a BBQ I went to recently, so I figured you'd want to know about it!  I saw it on food52 earlier in the week and instantly knew what dish I'd be bringing.

Corn & Caramelized Onion Salad
adapted slightly from food52
serves a crowd

I used a mix of cooked and fresh corn kernals here because I didn't have enough corn the night I was preparing this, but liked the combination.  Feel free to use one or the other entirely!

7 ears of corn, divided
1 large red onion, peeled and diced
1-2T extra virgin olive oil
2T balsamic vinegar
scant 2t evaporated cane juice (or granulated sugar)
2oz diced pancetta (I bought mine pre-diced at trader joe's)
3-4T chopped cilantro (I used ~3T fresh frozen cilantro

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Cook 4 ears of corn in boiling water for 3-4min, then plunge into an ice water bath to cool.  Drain and then cut off kernals from both the cooked and raw corn cobs into a large bowl.

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat.  Add diced onions, balsamic, sugar and a dash of salt, stir to coat the onions.  Cook for 2-3min, stirring occasionally, and then reduce heat to medium low.  Cook for 20-25min, until the onions are nice and caramelized.  Remove from pan and set aside to cool.

Add pancetta to the pan and cook on medium heat until brown and crispy.  Drain pancetta on paper towel-lined plates.

Add caramelized onions, pancetta and cilantro to the corn.  Mix well, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.  Garnish with cilantro or parsley, if desired.

What was the last dish you made that was a surprising hit?