Grilled Corn Salad With Hot Honey Vinaigrette

Nothing beats grilled corn. If you’re looking for an easy side to serve at a cookout, grilled corn is hands-down one of the most affordable and pretty darned near effortless ways to go — place cobs on grill, slather with butter and voila. But for those occasions when you want to go the extra step or just want to skip the whole corn-stuck-in-your teeth aspect of eating corn right off the cob, we can’t recommend this Grilled Corn Salad With Hot Honey Vinaigrette recipe enough.


Instead of butter, we coat a grill pan with olive oil and grill the corn along with the poblano pepper, rotating occasionally to get that perfect char. The poblano pepper is then steamed, making the removal of skin and seeds super easy, before combining with the corn kernels, cherry tomatoes, shallots and cilantro. Minnesota’s own Cry Baby Craig’s Hot Honey stars in the salad’s vinaigrette, marrying with the poblano for a heat that sticks with you in a most pleasant way, even the “light on the spice” folks will agree. The juicy cherry tomatoes and tender corn offer up a texture that can’t be beat and the cilantro and Cotija cheese cool everything down just enough for you to go in for that second bite without any hesitation. This is one of those “tastes like it was hard to make but was actually really easy” recipes that wins the crowd over every time. We predict it’s going to give grilled corn on the cob a run for its money.

SERVINGS

4

PREP TIME

15 min

COOK TIME

15 min

Ingredients

  • 2
    tablespoons Cry Baby Craig’s Hot Honey
  • 2
    tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • ¼
    cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for pan
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 4
    ears of corn
  • 1
    poblano pepper
  • 10
    cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 1
    shallot, small diced
  • 2
    tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
  • Cotija cheese, for garnish

Directions

  1. 1

    In a small bowl, combine the hot honey and apple cider vinegar. Whisk vigorously while slowly pouring the olive oil into the bowl. Whisk until emulsified. Set aside.

  2. 2

    Brush a grill pan with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the corn and poblano pepper. Cook for about 12 minutes rotating occasionally until charred on the outside. Remove corn and pepper from the pan.

  3. 3

    Place the pepper into an airtight container to steam for 10 minutes. Remove the poblano from the container and rub the outer layer with your hands or paper towel to remove the skin. Discard the stems and seeds and small dice the pepper. Add to a large bowl.

  4. 4

    Cut the corn kernels off the cob and transfer them to the bowl. Add the cherry tomatoes, shallots and cilantro to the bowl.

  5. 5

    Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to combine. Garnish with cilantro and Cotija cheese.

  6. 6

    Leftover salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Recipe source: Ingredient