20 Minute Mexican Corn and Quinoa Salad

This summer is flying by. How is it already August? Between work, travel, and life I’ve been spending very little time in the kitchen. And to be honest, I’m not complaining about that as I normally would. I’ve enjoyed being a bit spoiled and eating out more than usual with my husband on our two week trip to Hawaii, with my family on the Cape, and my friends celebrating this, that, and the other thing. Plus, I do try to minimize my time in the kitchen when the weather is beautiful and a glass of chilled rosé is calling for me to enjoy outside.

Having said that, I have come across some enticing recipes recently and have been waiting for the right time to try them out. This recipe is from What’s Gaby Cooking and it’s a perfect summer dish as it isn’t time-consuming, it’s light, and it packs a serious punch. I whipped this up in about 20 minutes, providing ample time for rosé consumption up on the roof deck. I made the recipe for 4 servings and brought leftovers into work today. It was just as delicious on the second day.

Enjoy!

What’s Gaby Cooking Mexican Corn and Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 cup red, white, or whole grain quinoa. My favorite brand is tru Roots.
• 3 cups corn (about 4 ears), cut from the cob
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 handful cilantro, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 tablespoons cotija or feta, crumbled
• chili powder to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
• 1 avocado
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Cook the quinoa according to the package directions. (Normally, quinoa is like rice. For one cup of quinoa it’s two cups of water.)
• While that’s cooking, remove the avocado from the skin and put the flesh into a food processor with ½ of the lime juice. Blend until smooth. Add a few tablespoons of water as needed to make the mixture smooth, it should be a similar consistency to a mayonnaise.
• Once the quinoa is cooked, add it to the raw corn in a large mixing bowl along with the chopped jalapeño green onions, cilantro, other half of the lime juice, cotija/feta cheese and a dash of chili powder. Toss to combine.
• Remove the avocado mixture from the blender, toss it with the corn and quinoa mixture and top with the shredded jack cheese. Season with salt and pepper as needed and serve.

Makes 4 servings.