Nothing says summer like fresh corn, and nowhere is the corn better than right here in Cayuga County. To celebrate the local corn harvest, the Auburn farmers market is having a corn roast from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 7. Freshly roasted corn on the cob will be free to everyone and samples of corn, cucumber and tomato salad will be available at the Cornell Cooperative Extension table. (If you never have eaten raw corn, you are in for a pleasant surprise).

If you feel guilty about eating corn because you think it has too many calories, you may be surprised that a small ear of corn has only about 80 calories. As is true of its cousin, popcorn, sweet corn is a whole grain. It is classified botanically as a grain because the kernels you eat are the seeds for the next generation of corn plants. When corn kernels are removed from the cob and ground up, the foods that are made using the resulting corn meal, such as tortillas and corn bread, are considered grain products.

But when corn is eaten as kernels, it is considered a vegetable in the MyPyramid system.

The butter you add to corn may have as many calories as the ear of corn you are eating. These foods, which have about 100 to 120 calories as listed, add hundreds of calories to foods we eat in the summer:

Butter (1 tablespoon)

Mayonnaise (1 tablespoon)

Cheese (1 ounce)

Sweetened lemonade (8 ounces)

Sugared soda (8 ounces)

Ranch dressing (2 tablespoons

Potato chips (10)

If you are hoping to exercise off the extra calories these calorie dense foods add to a meal, be aware that it takes much longer to burn off the calories than it does to eat them.

To burn 100 calories, a 150 pound person would have to swim for about 15 minutes, walk briskly for 20 minutes or play Frisbee for 30 minutes.

Being physically active is good for your health but may not prevent weight gain if you are eating excess calories.

The best plan is to cut the calories where you will not miss them by using lower calorie substitutes or by eating less of high calorie foods.

Christine Gutelius, MA, RD, CDN, is a nutrition resource educator with the Eat Smart NY program at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County.

Corn, Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Makes 4 cups

4 ears of corn (about 2 to 2 1/2 cups corn), uncooked

2 large tomatoes, washed, seeded and diced

2 medium cucumbers, washed, seeded and diced

1/2 cup lime juice (or vinegar)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 red onion, chopped fine (or less to taste)

6 tablespoons fresh parsley or cilantro, washed and chopped (or 2 tablespoons dry)

Cut kernels from corn cobs and place in a medium bowl.

Add chopped tomatoes and cucumbers to bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together lime juice or vinegar, sugar, oil, salt and pepper.

Stir in red onion. Pour over corn mixture and stir to combine.

Add chopped parsley or cilantro, just before serving. Serve immediately or refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours before serving.