Mexican Street Corn Macaroni Salad
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 15 oz. cans corn drained or kernels cut from 4-5 ears of fresh corn on the cob
- 1 ½ cups elbow macaroni uncooked (certified gluten free if necessary)
- ¼ cup red onion can sub with green onion
- ⅓ cup chopped cilantro leaves
- 1 jalapeno seeds and stems removed, minced
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes quartered
- ½ cup black beans
- ½ cup queso fresco cheese crumbled
- 1 large avocado seed removed, chopped
Sauce Ingredients
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- Juice of 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce I used Sriracha with good results
- Pinch of cumin
- Himalayan pink salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil a medium pot of water and cook pasta until al dente according to package directions.
- Drain and rinse in a colander under cold water.
- Set colander over a bowl and allow the pasta to continue to drip dry while preparing next steps.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- After skillet is completely heated through (about 5 minutes), add half of the corn so it’s in a single layer.
- Allow it to slightly char, about 5 minutes. Then, brown the remainder using the same process.
- Place the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth and combined. Taste and adjust spices if necessary.
- In a large bowl, add cooled and dry pasta, charred corn, onion, cilantro, jalapeno, tomatoes, black beans, cheese and fresh avocado.
- Pour on dressing and toss to combine.
- Immediately serve.
Notes
*If preparing this salad in advance, add dressing and fresh avocado immediately before serving.
*Also, I would not sub the mayo for anything else. I tried plain Greek yogurt and it doesn’t work well!
