Vegan Mexican Roasted Street Corn Salad

It’s almost summer salad season! To be honest, I’ve never had traditional Mexican street corn. Being vegan since 1994, I don’t think I was aware of it back then. From my research, this is sold by vendors on the cob and is called elote. Traditional elote is either grilled or boiled, then coated with mayonnaise and topped with chili powder, cheese, lime juice and hot sauce. Another version of elote where the kernels are cut from the cob and mixed with the toppings is called equites. This recipe is closer to that version but I’ve taken some liberties.

This is a little more extra than just making a regular salad of chopping veggies and mixing them together but it’s worth it. I’ve roasted the corn, jalapeños and red onion which not only adds depth of flavor, but tempers the sharpness of the onion and pepper which can sometimes have an unpleasant bite. Roasting brings out the sweetness as well. A note on roasting peppers. Once blistered, let it cool then slip the tough skin off and remove the seeds if you don’t want any heat. Leave them in if you like it spicy! Other ingredients like fresh tomatoes, avocado and spices round out the salad but I’ve left the mayonnaise based dressing separate as some don’t like creamy things or don’t want the extra fat and calories. I love it and definitely added it to mine but the salad is also great without it.

To roast the veggies, you have a few options. You could grill them, broil them in the oven (which is the method I chose) or dry roast them in a pan on the stove. Whatever method you choose, you’re looking for browned charred bits on the veggies which will add a lot of flavor.

For the vegan cheese, you can use whatever kind you like but there are vegan feta cheeses on the market as well as queso fresco styles so those would have the more traditional look to them. If you don’t want any cheese, simply leave it out. I hope you enjoy this salad as it’s extremely delicious!

Vegan Mexican Roasted Street Corn Salad

Recipe by Kreg

5.0 from 1 vote

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

A delicious vegan version of the popular Mexican street corn made into a salad!

Ingredients

• Salad

• 4 ears fresh corn, roasted

• 1 medium red onion, roasted

• 1 large or two small jalapeños, roasted, seeded and chopped

• 1 can black beans, rinsed

• 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped

• 1 large ripe avocado, diced

• chopped scallions

• 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• hot sauce to taste

• zest and juice from two limes

• 1 teaspoon salt

• vegan cheese (I used feta)

• Creamy Dressing

• 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise

• 1/2 cup vegan sour cream

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• chopped cilantro or parsley

• 1-2 tablespoons lime juice

Directions

• To roast the corn, onion and jalapeños, you can grill, broil or cook in a dry pan on high heat on the stove until you get charred bits on them. Let cool and set aside.
• In a large bowl, cut the kernels off the corn cobs and chop the onions and jalapeños and add. Add the other veggies and mix to combine but add the rinsed beans and avocado last with the spices and lime juice and zest so they don’t get mushy. Top with the cheese if using.
• Whisk the creamy dressing ingredients together and with top the salad or mix into it if desired. Eat immediately and store leftovers in the fridge.

Notes

• I used Follow Your Heart vegan feta cheese.
  
• Feel free to load this up with fresh cilantro. I’m cilantro averse so I don’t use it but you do you!

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