Avocado Corn Salad

5 from 17 votes

A bright herby Avocado Corn Salad with plenty of lime juice and a hint of garlic! This makes for the perfect summer side dish!

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Tex Mex, Southwestern

Servings: people

Author: Gaby Dalkin

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
3 green onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 poblano peppers, finely diced
5 ears corn on the cob, husks removed and cleaned
½ cup chopped chives
½ cup torn basil
1 lime, juiced (plus more to taste)
1 ripe avocado, cubed
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions

Grill the corn on an indoor or outdoor grill until lightly charred. Remove kernels from the cob.
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and poblano and sauté for 5-7 minutes until translucent. Add the green onions, and garlic and sauté for 60 seconds. Add corn and season with salt and pepper.
Remove from heat and taste and adjust as needed. Transfer to a serving bowl and let cool slightly. Add the herbs, lime, avocado, salt and pepper to toss to combine. Serve with extra limes if desired.

Notes

Char the corn directly on a hot grill rather than steaming or roasting it. High direct heat triggers the Maillard reaction on the corn kernels, creating deeper, slightly smoky flavor that you simply cannot replicate with boiling or oven roasting. That char is what makes this salad taste like summer.
Let the sauteed corn and vegetable mixture cool before adding the avocado. Adding avocado to a hot mixture causes it to turn mushy and oxidize faster. Cooling to at least room temperature keeps the cubes intact and that vibrant green color looking fresh.
Cut the kernels off the cob using a large bowl as your base, not a cutting board. Stand the cob upright inside a wide bowl and slice downward. The bowl catches every kernel and prevents them from scattering across your entire counter.
Add the lime juice in two stages, once to the warm corn mixture and once at the very end. The first hit of lime seasons the corn while it can still absorb the acid. The second hit brightens the whole salad just before serving and keeps the herbs from tasting flat.
Tear the basil instead of chopping it. A knife blade bruises and oxidizes basil quickly, turning it black. Tearing by hand breaks the leaves along natural cell lines and keeps that bright green color and fresh aroma intact longer.
Dice the red onion fine and let it sit in the hot pan for the full 5 to 7 minutes. Raw red onion has a sharp, harsh bite that dominates the salad. Fully sauteing it mellows the sulfur compounds and brings out a subtle sweetness that balances the acidity from the lime.
Use a ripe but firm avocado, not one that gives completely under pressure. An overripe avocado will turn to mash the moment you toss the salad. You want cubes that hold their shape through folding. Slightly firm avocados that yield gently to pressure are the sweet spot.
Do not skip the poblanos or substitute green bell pepper. Poblanos have a mild heat and an earthy, almost smoky flavor that green bell pepper completely lacks. Bell pepper adds sweetness without depth, which throws off the balance of the whole salad.
Add the garlic to the pan only after the onion and poblano are already translucent. Garlic burns in about 30 to 60 seconds in a hot pan. Adding it too early means it will be bitter and acrid by the time the onions are done. Adding it last lets it mellow and bloom without scorching.
Season the corn in the pan with salt while it is still hot. Corn kernels are dense and slightly starchy. Salting them while warm allows the salt to penetrate the surface rather than just sitting on top, which means more evenly seasoned corn in every bite.
If using raw corn, choose ears that feel heavy and tight with no dried or darkened silk. Fresh raw corn is naturally sweet and juicy, but it turns starchy within days of harvest. Heavy ears with bright silk still hold their sugar content and are genuinely good uncooked.
Fold in the herbs and avocado gently with a large spoon instead of tossing aggressively. Vigorous tossing breaks down the avocado cubes and bruises the fresh herbs. A gentle fold from the bottom of the bowl distributes everything evenly while keeping the texture of the salad exactly where it needs to be.

Nutrition (estimated)