This grilled corn quinoa salad is the perfect dish to serve this summer – filled with fresh produce and drizzled in an agave-lime vinaigrette.
Summer corn. Is there anything sweeter?
For the past few days I’ve been visiting my parents in Vermont, and if you’ve been reading for a while now then you know how I feel about Vermont. Obsessed. Like my favorite place on earth. Especially in the summer.
Apart from the weather and lush greenery, one of my favorite aspects of visiting here is the local produce. Not only do we have a wonderful farmer’s market, but we have this farm stand right down the road from my parent’s house that literally has THE MOST amazing produce I’ve ever seen. And it’s grown only 5 miles down the road.
While their berries are out of this world (especially the strawberries) and everything else is pretty spectacular, it’s their corn that steals my heart. We haven’t quite reached the peek of corn season yet, but ever since it arrived we’ve been eating it every single night. Typically we go the simple route: just a quick boil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Really it doesn’t need anything else. (I've also added it to quinoa burgers –> they're bomb!)
But this past Sunday we had a little get together at our house and since everyone there knows all about SQ, I wanted to make something summery and quinoa-inspired. Since everyone was also local, they know all about Killdeer corn and were likely expecting it on the menu.
Rather that serving it up straight on the cob, I went for something a little more unique. A grilled corn quinoa salad with an agave-lime dressing.
You guys…amazing. That’s all I can say. One of my top quinoa salad recipes ever. I’m not kidding.
The charred corn, combined spicy jalapeño, juicy cherry tomatoes, toasty pumpkin seeds and fluffy quinoa, are perfectly complemented with the zesty agave lime dressing.
I haven’t used much agave in my cooking before, but I recently discovered that Madhava Sweeteners makes a raw agave and I just had to try it. I’m already obsessed with raw honey, so I wanted to see how this vegan alternative would compare.
Well friends, it’s delicious!
I was looking for something to highlight the sweetness of the corn and adding the agave to the dressing was perfect.
If you’ve never tried agave before, it has an almost caramel flavor, but is lighter than honey or maple syrup. And it’s fairly thin, making it an excellent ingredient to add to salad dressings.
This vinaigrette has only five ingredients: agave, lime, olive oil, salt and pepper. It’s simple but it’s so wonderful with this salad. It really makes the flavors of each of the ingredients burst with every bite. It’s sweet and tangy with a beautiful contrast in texture (and color!).
This salad makes a lovely side dish to any summer meal. You can also make it more of a meal but tossing it over some greens and adding some black beans on top. I actually tried that for lunch yesterday and it was awesome.
Enjoy!
xo Alyssa
PS: if you make this recipe (or any others!) make sure to snap a pic and share it on Instagram using hashtag #SIMPLYQUINOA – I want to see your creations!
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Other Sweet Corn Recipes to try:
Grilled Corn Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
for the salad:
- 4 ears of sweet corn
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 jalapeno seeded and diced
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 3 - 4 tablespoons dressing
- 1/4 - 1/3 cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped
for the dressing:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons Madhava Raw Agave
- 1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar
- Salt + pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to medium high. Shuck the corn and place it directly on the grill when hot. Cook corn 3 - 4 minutes per side until nice and charred. Remove and let rest until cool enough to touch.
- Once cooled, cut the corn from the cob. Add it to a large salad bowl, along with quinoa, tomatoes and jalapeno.
- Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry skillet (or toaster oven) until golden brown, about 1 - 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin seeds to the bowl and toss everything to combine.
- Add dressing ingredients to a sealed jar (a mason jar works great) and shake until combined. 3 - 4 tablespoons of dressing over salad and toss again. Taste and add more dressing if desired.
- Stir in cilantro and serve.
- Salad can also be chilled for 1 - 2 hours before serving, but I liked it slightly warm.
Nutrition
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This post was sponsored on behalf of Madhava Sweeteners. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that I love; it helps makes SQ possible!
