Charred Corn Salad With Avocado And Sour Cream Dressing

My children love fresh corn. Now that corn is in season, grilled corn is on rotation, whether it’s on the cob or in a salad. I came up with this simple charred corn salad, which gets its creaminess from the avocado and sour-cream. There’s no oil at all (except for the small amount of oil I slicked the grill pan with). When I made this for dinner recently, my children had second and third helpings.

This corn salad goes so well with flank steak and maybe a side of pico de gallo. I thought some shishito peppers, simply fried in olive-oil and salt, was divine with the corn salad and steak as well. The salad is super easy and quick to put together. The hands-on time is only about 15 minutes, the rest of the time is just waiting for the grilled corn to cool, so it’s not too hot to handle.

Here is what you’ll need:

• 5 ears of corn
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tbsp. lime juice
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper
• 1 small clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. salt, or salt to taste

Clean and dry the corn. Using a brush, brush oil on a grill pan and turn up the heat high. Grill the corn, leaving it charred in places. Make sure to turn the corn every minute or so. The corn only takes about 7-10 minutes to grill. Set the corn aside to cool for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the dressing. In a food processor, add the avocado, sour cream, lime juice, red pepper, crushed garlic, cilantro and salt. Run the machine until the ingredients are mixed well and smooth.

Now back to the corn. Grab a sharp knife and large plate. Hold the corn by the cob stalk (what is that called?) and shave off pieces of corn from top to bottom. Repeat until you’ve shaved off all the corn.

Place all the shaved corn kernels into a large bowl and pour in the dressing. Mix well and serve.