Summer Street Corn Salad
For over the border flavor, our chefs were inspired by a Mexican favorite: street corn! Try their rendition in Summer Street Corn Salad, which pairs the sweet kernel with crunchy snap peas, ripe tomatoes, zippy red scallions, avocado, chicken, cheese, and a bunch of seasonings. Olé!
Ingredients
- 2 heads multicolor lettuce, washed and stemmed
- 2 cobs of corn
- 8 oz snap peas, blanched and stemmed
- 2-3 tomatoes, washed and diced small
- 1 bunch red scallion, washed and sliced thin, greens and whites separated
- 1 avocado, cored and sliced thin
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 Tbsp pepper
- 1-2 Tbsp ea. Mexican-style seasoning or smoked paprika
- 1-2 oz cotija cheese (This is a specialty product, but it’s worth it, trust me!)
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 lb chicken breast, cut into thin strips and seared (optional main dish ingredient)
Preparations
- First, and I cannot stress this enough, get the cotija cheese. It’s a lynchpin of the dish, but you can substitute with cheddar or feta.
- Wash and cut all of your produce to the specifications.
- Take extra care to de-stem the snap peas, because the stems and the thin vein on the inside are very rubbery and unpleasant to chew.
- If possible, I would suggest putting the whole corn, husk and all, directly onto a hot grill for 8-10 minutes, rotating every couple. This will essentially steam the corn in it’s own husk, which not only cooks the corn perfectly, it also makes it extremely easy to husk. (Pull the top and let it cool for a few minutes first before husking) because the fibrous innards will stick to the husk instead of the corn!
- Mix all of the produce besides the lettuce in a medium bowl, then add the mayo and the seasoning.
- Whisk gently with a rubber spatula until mixed thoroughly, then add the cheese.
- Serve over the lettuce heads and top with chicken (if using) and another dash of Mexican seasoning or paprika.