I have been trying all summer to come up with good ways to use corn and I think this salad really hits the nail on the head. Corn is one of my favorite vegetables when it’s in season. In summer is so sweet and juicy, I absolutely love it! So in celebration of corn and vegetables and summertime, I created this Elotes Salad with Smoky Avocado Ranch.
If you’re not familiar with Elotes, let me school you really quick. Elotes are kind of Mexican cream corn. It’s corn, with mayonnaise and spices and it’s ridiculously delicious. I was a little skeptical of it at first as well, until I tried it as Vegan Fest here is Chicago two years ago and was blown away! It’s amazing, now I seek it out. The best place to get it though is the side of the road food trucks carts, the good authentic stuff. Not wanting to try and inevitably butcher authentic Mexican food, I figured I’d borrow the flavor profile and put my own spin on it!
This salad is amazing!! It’s loaded with fresh summer vegetables that are bursting with sweetness and flavor. The jalapenos and the spices in the dressing add a great kick to it and the cucumber and radishes make this salad super colorful and delightfully crunchy! The dressing here is very similar to my dressing in the Cobb Salad, but I added some spices to give it that Elotes style punch up. The avocados help to make the ranch dressing nice and creamy and it’s exploding with bold, smoky flavor.
This is truly the best picnic salad you could dream of. It screams summer and is so flavorful, even the biggest salad haters in your life will love it. As summer wraps up, this salad is the perfect thing to make for those end of the summer parties, to get the last good use of all the colorful deliciousness summer has to offer. If you make this dish please share on social and tag us, we love seeing your recipes and if you’re new to Almost Like Mom’s don’t forget to subscribe!
Until Next Time,
Jackie
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Elotes Corn Salad with Smoky Avocado Ranch
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Mexican, Vegetarian, Vegan
Description
The perfect summer salad incorporating loaded with sweet corn and fresh veggies and tossed with a perfect smoky and spicy avocado ranch dressing.
Ingredients
Scale
- Salad
- 2 cups cooked or frozen corn
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 fresh jalapenos, sliced
- 1 large cucumber, diced
- 8 radishes, sliced thin
- 1 red onion, diced
- Smoky Avocado Ranch
- 1 medium avocado
- 1/2 cup vegan mayo
- 1/2 cup almond milk, (more if it needs to be thinned out)
- 1 tbs apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- pinches of salt and pepper
- juice of 1 lime
Instructions
- Start by chopping all the vegetables and cooking the corn if you’re using fresh corn. Combine all the salad ingredients into a large bowl and toss.
- For the dressing, combine the almond milk and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl and set aside for about 10 minutes. The almond milk will start to curdled which will mimic buttermilk. Place the avocado and mayo into the food processor and blend until smooth. Next add the almond milk mixture and lime juice and blend.
- At this point, test to see if it’s thin enough. It should be the texture of a thicker ranch dressing. If it needs to be thinned out you can add more almond milk or more lime juice if you like it extra tangy. Add the cayenne pepper, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and blend until fully incorporated. The dressing should be creamy and smoky.
- Toss the salad in the dressing and Enjoy!
Notes
*Add another 20 minutes to the cook time if you’re cooking the corn.
