You may ask, “Did the world freeze over? Is Donna really about to post a SALAD recipe?” The answer is yes, I am going to post a salad recipe.
If you know me, you know that I am anti-salad. Okay. Those are strong words. I like salad, but I really don’t like preparing salad at home. I end up with way too much greens that I cannot consume fast enough before they wilt and turn brown.
But this recipe is 98% GRILED corn, so I’m going to devour it all of it. The dressing is delicious, and it has THE most simple ingredients (no mayo, I promise!).
Don’t get turned off by “grilled”. You don’t need an actual grill to make this. As long as you have an oven, foil, and a baking sheet, you’ll be making this everyday.
Fun Fact: I’m actually allergic to corn amongst other weird food items. Fortunately, none of my allergies are life-threatening. If I eat too much of food I’m allergic to, I’ll start getting hives on my chest, but nothing uncontrollable. For the most part, it’s worth the itch.
Let’s start cooking:
INGREDIENTS
For the corn
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 4 cobs of corn, peeled
For the dressing
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoon sriracha (reduce the amount if you don’t like spicy dressings)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the rest of the salad
- 2 avocados, sliced about 3/4″ thick (see note)
- 1 serrano chili pepper, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves with tender stems
- Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
EQUIPMENT
- Baking sheet
- A lot of foil
- Hand held citrus juicer, optional
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a small bowl, cream together the butter, garlic, salt, and pepper. Slather the butter mixture all over the corn. This is my favorite thing to do.
- Wrap each corn in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet lined with foil for easy clean up.
- Roast for 40 minutes, turn HALFWAY.
- While waiting for the corn to roast, prep the dressing. Whisk lime juice, honey, sriracha, garlic powder, and salt. Taste it to see if it’s to your liking, if not, adjust with adding more of what you think it needs. (Is it too spicy? Add more honey. Not spicy enough? Add more Sriracha).
- When done roasting, take out the corn and open the foil on top to expose the corn. Turn the oven to broil (on high) and place the corn back in. Broil for 2-3 minutes. Pro Tip: When you are broiling anything to get a charred or grilled appearance, make sure you do not peel your eyes off your food (just like you would watch if it was Chris Hemsworth working out his upper body shirtless… just make sure you wipe your drool) because your food will go from charred to charcoal within seconds.
- When done broiling, take out the corn and let it cool a bit, then cut the kernels from the cob and place in a large bowl.
- Add avocados, Serrano peppers, cilantro leaves, and dressing to the corn. Toss to combine. Season with more salt & pepper, to taste.
- Cover with a plastic wrap, making sure you press in direct contact with the salad to prevent avocados from turning brown. Chill at least 2 hours before eating.
NOTE
- The citrus dressing is going to prevent the avocados from turning brown really quick, but if I’m going to eat the leftovers the next day, I only like to slice 1 avocado at a time to make sure it’s as fresh as possible.
Sprinkled with Pepper 