Mexican Style Grilled Corn Salad
Grilled Mexican Street Corn and Grilled Mexican Style Salads are two tastes that I’ve been eager to try. No problem in Las Vegas for both are readily available and as commonly served at the barbecue as Jersey sweet corn dipped in melted butter.
I got the corn at Cardenas Mexican Market and since the women around the heaping piles of corn on the cob display had included me in on the conversation discussing the quality and flavor of the corn I took the opportunity to inquire on versions of grilled Mexican Style Grilled Corn Salad.
A fun little encounter incurred with the usual suggested suspects for ingredients; green onion or red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, red pepper, chili powder, the suggestion of adding in chipotles in adobo sauce and also some cooked up nopales strips (cactus pads stripped of the prickles). The Nopales is another post for another day.
There was an even mix of preferences on the finishing flavors in using mayo, sour cream, crema, or a varied mixture of these, with the other option being squeezed lime and crumbled cheese. I went with the squeezed lime and Cotija cheese along with some dabs of butter in the finish. Served warm, this dish is packed with fun flavors and colorful enough to grace any barbecue or celebration buffet. And to the ladies conversing around the corn on the cob bin at Cardenas Mexican Market, Muchas, Muchas Gracias.
Mexican Style Grilled Corn Salad
Ingredients
- 9-10 fresh ears sweet corn on the cob
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 jalapenos, seeded, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded, pth removed, chopped
- 6-7 thin scallions, white and green part, finely chopped
- 1 chipotle in adobo smashed with a scant to generous teaspoon of the adobo sauce depending on spice level preference (small cans of chipotle in adobo sauce may be purchased in the Hispanic section of most supermarkets)
- 3 tablespoons butter, cut into 3 pieces
- few good pinches coarse kosher salt, plus more according to taste
- juice from one-half lime, plus lime wedges to serve alongside
- 4 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
- 1/8 cup crumbled Cotija cheese
Instructions
- Preheat grill to medium high heat, brushing grates with a bit of oil
- Remove corn husks and silk, wash corn, cut off ends
- Grill corn around 3 minutes each side until corn just begins to blister in some parts, transfer corn to a cutting board to cool
- Use a knife to cut off kernels from top to bottom all around, scrape corn into a medium sized bowl, set aside
- Heat olive oil on low heat in a large sized pan with sides deep enough to fit the corn
- Tumble in the jalapenos and red bell peppers, cooking until softened around five minutes
- Scrape in the chopped scallions, stir throughout with the peppers and cook another two minutes
- Add in the grilled corn kernels, stir, cooking for a few minutes to warm the corn through
- Stir in the smashed adobo with chipotle sauce folding throughout the corn salad mixture
- Set in the butter pieces and stir to melt through
- Season with salt, stir, check seasoning and adjust to taste
- Squeeze in the lime juice, stir
- Turn off heat, sprinkle in the cilantro, stir through
- Transfer Mexican Style Grilled Corn Salad into a serving bowl, top with some Cotija Cheese crumbles and serve warm straight away alongside lime wedges
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