Mexican Street Corn Salad (Esquites)
Serves 4
We offer a simple take on this classic Mexican street dish, called Esquites. Our recipe eliminates a lot of calories by substituting plain Greek yogurt for mayonnaise. Try adding chili powder, paprika, or crushed red pepper for extra kick!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. cooking oil
- 4 ears fresh corn
- 2 tbsp. plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 ounces cotija cheese
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- ½ cup chopped scallion greens
- 1 ½ tsp. minced garlic
- 1 lime
- salt, to taste
- optional: chili powder, minced jalapeño pepper, red onion and tomato
Directions
1. Prepare the ingredients
- Remove kernels from corn.
- Dice tomato, red onion, and jalapeño (optional).
- Finely chop cilantro.
2. Cook the corn
- Heat oil in a frying pan on medium heat.
- Add corn kernels to the pan.
- Salt the corn to taste.
- Toss corn several times.
- Cook corn until charred (approximately 10 minutes).
- Transfer charred corn to a bowl.
3. Add ingredients
- Add the cheese, Greek yogurt, scallions, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, and any of the optional ingredients (chili powder and a minced jalapeño pepper).
- Toss all of the ingredients together until well-combined.
4. Plate and serve
- Serve the Esquites immediately.
Tasks for Helping Hands:
- Shucking corn
- Crumbling cheese
- Squeezing limes
- Chopping cilantro and green onions
Authors
Carrie Durward, PhD, RD, Sydney Mason, and Chelsey Mickelson
Carrie Durward
Nutrition Specialist
NDFS Dept
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