Ask most people what makes their favorite food appealing, and they’ll describe its delicious flavor or rhapsodize over its mouth-watering aroma. For many, food’s appeal is measured largely in terms of taste and smell.

Texture, on the other hand, usually receives less attention. It’s true that a few foods are touted for their creamy consistency, with yogurt being one such item that comes to mind. But, really, when was the last time you were tempted to eat a food (processed snacks aside) based on how it felt rather than tasted?

Take fresh corn, for example. Every year as piles of freshly picked ears start to appear around the country, lovers of all things corn find any number of ways to highlight its seasonal sweetness. Joe Yonan of the Washington Post finds it goes perfectly as the headliner in a simple pasta sauce. Melissa Clark of the New York Times uses it to flavor ice cream. Even my favorite radio foodie program, the Splendid Table, re-aired a story recently explaining the genetic basis for why different strains of corn display differing levels of sweetness.

It’s clear that the fleeting presence of corn that is sweet is a much anticipated event. Yet none of these stories mention another of corn’s attributes that I find equally appealing — a satisfying crunch. Not a dry, one-dimensional, popcorn-style crunch, mind you. No, the crunch I’m talking about is more three-dimensional, with the crunch of the kernels enveloped in a spray of tiny droplets that coat the tongue in a summery essence of sweet corn.

That’s why I love the recipe I’m sharing today. It’s a crunchy mix of fresh corn, zucchini, red peppers, and leeks, all of which are widely available in grocery stores and farmers markets this time of year. The vegetables are cut into pieces of approximately the same size and then cooked quickly, or sautéed in the vernacular of cooking, in a hot pan with a small amount of fat.

There are two benefits to this method of cooking. First, sautéing causes less nutrient and flavor loss than boiling, another technique commonly used to cook vegetables. Second, sautéing maintains more of the vegetables’ fibrous structure, which means that corn that is sautéed retains more of its bite.

To prep the vegetables, start with the corn. Shuck each ear by removing its husk and silks. (The Kitchn has a series of photos here that show how to do this.) Then, using either your hands or a small brush, remove any stray silks that remain lodged among the kernels. To remove the kernels from the cobs, cut each shucked ear in half, stand each half cut-side down on your cutting board, and with a sharp knife, carefully slice the kernels from the cob several rows at a time.

Prepping the other vegetables is a little easier. You’ll need to give the leeks a good washing (a good tutorial is here), but otherwise simply trim and clean the vegetables and then cut them into pieces roughly the same size as the kernels.

At that point, all that’s left is to sauté the vegetables. You do this by heating some olive oil in a pan until it starts to shimmer and then add the vegetables in stages, starting with the leek (which can tolerate a long cooking time) and ending with the corn (which cooks in much less time). The key is to move the vegetables around from time to time with a spoon (like a haphazardly done stir fry) so they cook evenly.

That’s all there is to it. Of course, you may prefer to add some additional summery seasonings. I gave my dish a decidedly Italian tilt by including some dried basil flakes (which are ok to use if they still smell basil-ly while they are in their container and you add them during the cooking process) and some freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and a touch of freshly squeezed lemon juice, but you could add any seasonings that appeal to you and your family.