Mexican Corn Salad
*serves 4-6

This summer was my first in 3 years where I wasn’t in Oaxaca Mexico experiencing color, music, the celebration of sharing, yoga, teaching English and evening park walks in search of the perfect esquites. Esquites are, essentially, corn kernels in cup, served in a borth, showered with toppings like mayonaise, queso, spice, lime and chapulines (baby grasshoppers). They are the companion to elote, which is roasted corn on the cob that is topped with the same ingredients listed above. I have a strong preference for esquites over elote because I find corn on the cob to be a bit too messy to eat. I love the controlled nature of a cup that captures all of the toppings, when I eat elote I lose too much cheese and my hands get all gooey. You get it, I’m sure.
Though it felt different to not be in Oaxaca, I embraced my time at home with my parents and the moments I had in New York with my aunt, uncle, cousins and friends. I built new memories and made some longer term, maybe short term, decisions to get my drivers license, clean my families home, make space in the spare bedroom and create a little nest I can live in as my parents age and my father lives with dementia. This summer there was cooking, and there were esquites — but a different take on them.

My family loves salad — any salad — you name it. They love bean salads, rice salads, salads with a lettuce base and salads with a purely veggie base (think cucumbers and radishes with thinly sliced red onions and big pieces of feta). So I figured a corn salad would float with them, and it did.

Instead of placing the corn kernels in a tomato based broth, I cooked them off in a mix of butter and extra virgin olive oil with garlic and scallions to prep them with some flavor — adding a healthy sprinkle of salt — until they were golden brown. At this point, I let them cool and turned to making the corn salad dressing using a mix of mayonaise and a touch of Greek yogurt, chili powder, a sprinkle of cumin, smoked paprika and the juice of 1 lime. Along with cilantro, extra scallions and cotija cheese — you’ll have the makings for a very fresh and simple Mexican corn salad.

Mexican Corn Salad
*serves 4-6

Ingredients
4 cups of fresh corn kernels, cut from the cob
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 large bunch of scallions thinly slice, greens included
1/2 bunch of cilantro, washed and finely chopped
1/4 cup of mayonaise
2 tablespoons of full fat Greek Yogurt
Juice of 2 small limes
1 teaspoon of cumin
2 teaspoons of chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
1/2 cup of cotija cheese
2 teaspoons of salt

Instructions
—Cut corn from the cob and place in a bowl — put aside
—Heat a large saute pan, non-stick is great, with butter and extra virgin olive oil, adding garlic and half of the scallions
—Saute the garlic and scallions until fragrant, then add the corn and a teaspoon of salt
—Cook until corn is golden brown and soft(ish) but not mushy, about 10-12 minutes
—Transfer the cooked corn to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool
—Add mayonaise and Greek yogurt to a medium sized mixing bowl and whisk with lime juice, remaining salt, cumin, chili powder and smoked paprika
—Spoon dressing over cooled corn and gently mix with cilantro and remaining scallions
—Sprinkle with the cotija cheese, taste to adjust salt and garnish with scallion tops and a shaked of smoked paprika