Mexican Street Corn Salad With Adobo Grilled Chicken

Summer isn’t over…in fact, it’s just getting started. The second harvest of corn is happening so that means corn is super ripe and super sweet. Why not use a few ears of fresh corn for this fantastic play on a delicious street food! It’s simple. It’s easy. And most of all, it’s DELICIOUS.

For the Adobo Grilled chicken:

2 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless)
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
2 tablespoons of adobo (it’s the liquid from the can of chipotles in adobo)
a squeeze of fresh lime
a pinch of good chili powder
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of brown sugar

1. In a medium bowl, combine the salt, onion powder, adobo, fresh lime juice, chili powder, olive oil, and brown sugar until it forms a thick paste.

2. Take the chicken breasts and cut them cross wise so that you have 4 thinner slices of chicken breasts. They cook evenly this way. Marinate them in the paste for up to 24 hours.

3. When you’re ready, grill the chicken breasts in a grill pan (or outdoors on a grill) or sear them really well in a heavy skillet. Once they’re cooked through, remove from the heat and allow them to rest for 3 minutes before slicing them.

Cotija Ranch Salad Dressing

1 cup of good mayo
1 cup of good sour cream
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of dried parsley
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 cup of Cotija cheese

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients until the dressing is smooth. Refrigerate until you’re ready to use.

*The keys to this salad are a good mesclun mix of greens, but you certainly can use your favorites, and fresh corn. I took fresh corn off the cob, cut it into 4 small cobs and grilled them up in a grill pan. I just tossed each corn cob with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and grilled them. Then, I topped each piece of corn with a bit of Hungarian paprika (you can use cayenne pepper) and Cotija cheese before serving!

To find more recipes from Darius or to order his cookbook, click here