Thursday, December 16, 2010

Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad

 
 I have been wanting to try a salad like this for awhile now. I made meatloaf the other night and wanted a healthier, lighter side dish to enjoy with it. I found this recipe that seemed quick and easy so I went for it!

Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad
recipe from: Paula Deen via Food Network.com
(I'll note the substitutions I made below)

2 cups cooked corn, fresh or frozen
1 avocado, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup finely diced red onion

Dressing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Combine the corn, avocado, tomatoes and onion in a large glass bowl. Mix together the dressing ingredients in another bowl, pour over the salad, and gently toss to mix.

My substitutions
  • I didn't have cherry tomatoes on hand, but I chopped up about two roma tomatoes that worked well.
  • I didn't feel like chopping an onion so I added some Tastefully Simple Onion Onion to the dressing as I mixed it up.
  • I didn't have fresh cilantro on hand, but I found these cilantro cubes at the grocery store a while ago and they worked great! I used two or three and the salad had great cilantro flavor. They were really handy and I am definitely going to use them in place of regular cilantro wherever I can.
  • I used fresh grated limes, then squeezed the juice of one lemon and used that as my lime juice.
  • My avocado wasn't ready yet so I let the corn, tomatoes and dressing sit in the refrigerator overnight until the avocado was ready. I would probably suggest doing this even if you add the avocado. It really let the flavors mingle.
This salad was delicious. I wasn't expecting it to have a lot of flavor and I certainly didn't think that my Husband would like it, but I was very surprised. He loved it and I did too! Ianticipate making this repeatedly this coming Summer (yes, I know it's only December) with fresh corn on the cob, or even roasting some corn on the cob and using roasted corn. Yum. This would be perfect for a BBQ picnic. Definitely a crowd pleaser!

With that being said... I'm going to go heat up my leftovers for lunch. Luckily I have some of this salad to go with it as well. Can't wait!

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