Grilled Corn, Black Bean and Avocado Salad

Remember the amazing Baja Shrimp Tacos that I made for my family a while back?  This hearty side dish accompanied that meal to remember.  There’s a lot of prep involved (chopping, grilling, seeding, etc), so make sure to leave plenty of time to compose this dish–trust me, it will be worth it!

The original recipe can be found in Cooking Light magazine; I’m not a big fan of kidney beans, so I nixed them.  The salad lacked a little flavor, so I kicked up the spiciness by leaving the jalapeño seeds in the mix and adding plenty of fresh ground black pepper.

This salad has all of guacamole’s essential components:  jalapeño, cilantro, white onion, lime, and avocado.  The tomatoes and corn add a sweet dimension, while the charred onion and roasted jalapeño add a nice robust, smoky flavor.  I love this recipe because it can be served as a side, a taco topping or with chips and salsa.

Ingredients:

1 ½ C Quartered Grape or Cherry Tomatoes (rinse out seeds and dry on a layer of paper towels)
1 tsp Kosher Salt plus more to taste
1 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper, plus more to taste
3 Large Ears of Corn, shucked
1 Large White or Yellow Onion, cut into ¼”-thick slices
1 Jalapeno Pepper
1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Non-Stick Cooking Spray
1/3 C Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1/3 C Fresh Lime Juice (Juice from 3-4 Limes, keep a couple extra slices on hand)
1 (15-oz) Can No Salt Added Pinto Beans, thoroughly rinsed and drained
1 (15-oz) Can No Salt Added Black Beans, thoroughly rinsed and drained
2 Peeled, Diced Avocados
Grill Pan
Aluminum Foil

Method:

1.  Prep all ingredients:  quarter and seed tomatoes, slice onion, thoroughly rinse and drain beans (leave them in a strainer to drain), chop cilantro and juice the limes.

2.  Peel and dice avocados and drizzle with a squeeze of lime to prevent browning, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator.  Place the tomatoes in a small and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Toss and cover with plastic wrap, place in refrigerator.

3.  Preheat the grill to medium-high heat (around 350 degrees F).  Coat grill pan with nonstick cooking spray and place onions on top in a single layer, grind black pepper on top and sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt.  Spray a fine mist of olive oil or nonstick cooking spray.

4.  Tear off three sheets of aluminum foil and brush corn with a 1 tsp olive oil and a grind of black pepper (no salt).  Wrap the foil tightly around the ear of corn, twisting at the ends.  Repeat with remaining ears.

5.  Place onions, jalapeño and corn on the grill.  Grill corn for 12-15 minutes, turning every 6 minutes.  Grill onion slices and jalapeño 8 minutes or until lightly charred, turning after 4 minutes.  Remove vegetables from grill and let stand 5 minutes.

6.  Remove corn from foil to let cool.  Cut kernels from the cob and place in a large bowl.  Coarsely chop onion and add to corn.  Discard jalapeño stem and finely chop (for more heat, do not seed jalapeño).  Add to corn and onion mixture and toss well.

7.  Add beans to corn and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp kosher salt.  Add tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice and black pepper, gently stirring until combined.  Fold in avocado and sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper, to taste.

8.  Serve while still warm or chill in the refrigerator before the meal.

Related articles

• Ultimate Salsa (seacreatively.wordpress.com)
• Meatless Monday: Grilled Corn & Tomato Salad (rollinoatstampa.com)
• Tequila-Glazed Fish Tacos with Fresh Avocado Salsa Recipe (avocadocentral.com)

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