Description
This charred corn salad is ‘the’ summer salad. It’s a blend of everything summery: charred corn, pinto beans, fresh aromatics, and sweet citrus without any of the trouble of using an outdoor grill or turning on your oven!
Ingredients
Scale
Quinoa
- 1/2 cup quinoa, dry
- 1 cup water
- Pinch of kosher salt
Aromatics & Seasonings
- 1/2 small red onion, finely diced (sub with 1 shallot)
- 2 jalapeno peppers, de-seeded and finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 medium lime, zested
- 3 tbsp lime juice (about 1 medium lime)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp honey (sub with maple syrup)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Other Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups sweet yellow corn (fresh or frozen)
- 1 can (13.4 oz or 1 1/2 cups) cooked pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup loosely packed minced cilantro
Instructions
- Make the quinoa. My method for fluffy is a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water. So for 1/2 cup of quinoa, use 1 cup of water, along with a large pinch of salt. Place the pot on the stove, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and partially cover the pot. Let the quinoa cook undisturbed for 10-12 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. This next step is key, turn the heat off, fully cover the pot with the lid, and let the quinoa sit for 10 minutes. The “sitting” helps the quinoa steam and cook off any excess water.
- Macerate the aromatics. Dump the onion, jalapeno pepper, and garlic into a large bowl, then add in the lime zest and juice, olive oil, honey, cumin, coriander, and kosher salt, and stir well. Then set aside to macerate for 10 minutes – this process helps release even more flavor and juice from the aromatics and concentrates their flavor.
- Char the corn. Simply heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once shimmering and hot, dump in as much corn as will fit in a single layer in the pan. Let the corn sit, undisturbed for 4-5 minutes before stirring. Corn needs some time to get some color and char, so mixing too early, and too often, will make the corn take forever to brown. In total, the corn needs about 8 minutes to char properly. Once the corn is done, turn off the heat and let the corn sit in the pan while you prep the remaining ingredients.
- Prep the remaining ingredients. Lastly, drain and thoroughly rinse the beans, and finely mince the cilantro.
- Toss everything together and serve. Once the quinoa is ready, dump it into the bowl of aromatics, along with the charred corn, pinto beans, and cilantro. Toss together and adjust the salad for salt. Serve immediately (it tastes best warm).
Notes
Keep in mind that if you’re serving this as a side dish, it’ll serve 3-5 people. However, I usually treat this salad as a standalone meal, which it’s noted as serving 2 people.