Grilled Corn Salad

As a tribute to the end of summer, I've been really holding onto any summer produce that's still going strong. Our grocery store is still carrying some really great stone fruit, summer squash, and we've still got super fresh corn. The corn crop was extra good this year (at least what we've eaten was fantastic) so I've mostly been doing it really simple and just grilling it in the husk.

But recently, I made this grilled corn salad (from giant ears of corn that we scored at our town's farmer's market) and it was a huge hit. My sister meandered into the kitchen and asked, "What is this?" and before I could even answer, she was scooping some out onto a chip (as if it were salsa) and making yummy noises to herself.

Ingredients:
3 to 4 ears corn
¼ red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
½ avocado, chopped
½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 oz. queso fresco, crumbled
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

It's a really easy, straightforward recipe. All you do is chop up the ingredients and toss them into a bowl, squeeze in some lime juice, sprinkle in some seasonings, mix, and it's done. It's so fast and there's no added fat (unless you count the cheese) and it's delicious.

So, get the corn on the grill and while that's going, chop up the onions, bell pepper, jalapeno (in this case, I used a red one from our garden), garlic, and cilantro. Crumble the queso fresco right into the bowl.

Once the corn has a pretty good char, grab it and slice the kernels off the cob directly into the bowl.

Then, squeeze in the lime, sprinkle in the seasonings, and scoop in the avocado and give the whole thing a quick stir to combine.

Look at that color!

Scoop into a bowl, garnish with a cilantro leaf, and serve. It's delicious at room temperature and it's delicious when it's chilled.

This salad is so fresh and bright and delicious. The charred corn adds a great smoky element, the avocado is buttery, the onions and garlic add a flavorful punch, the tomatoes are sweet, the cheese adds saltiness, the peppers add punch and spice; it's got everything you want.

We enjoyed our salad with some black beans & rice and grilled skirt steak with cilantro chimichurri.

Here's the recipe page: