Sweet summer time.
Grills, swimming in the ocean, late nights that look like daytime. It really doesn’t get better.
Unless that is, you make this smoky summer salad with homemade chipotle dressing that’s so good and spicy it’ll make you want to down that frosé and ask for another.
Smoked paprika, cumin, and chili powder join the heat of open flames to bump up the smoky factor to a hundred. Did I mention that chipotle peppers are literally smoked jalapeños? The leftovers make the most mind blowing desk lunch of your life.
These sausages can be your favorite brand, homemade, or the type I use which are these incredible plant-based variety: Beyond meat
You will need:
3 ears of corn, husks pulled back
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 white onion, finely diced
1 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
4 beyond meat sausages
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder, divided
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers (less if you don’t tolerate heat)
1 lime, zested and juiced
1/2 cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt
salt and pepper to taste
First things first, preheat your grill. Get that bad boy ready for business.
Lightly brush some of the vegetable oil on the corn and sliced sweet potatoes.
In a small bowl or cup mix together the chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
Sprinkle the spice mixture over the potatoes and place on a low-heat part of your grill. If you put them directly onto the furnace, they’re going to burn before they cook.
Once they are almost completely tender, move to a hotter part of the grill to get those nice grill marks on each side.
If your grill is large enough, you can also place your corn on the grill towards the end of the potato cookery. If not, do what I did and grill in shifts. The corn is done much quicker and can be put on the hotter part of the grill safely.
On the grill next, add the beyond sausages (or real sausages. Try the beyond though…you won’t regret it) until nicely browned. Cool on a cutting board and slice on a diagonal.
Next, combine the cherry tomatoes with the black beans and diced onion. Stir in the cilantro and a sprinkle of the spice mixture.
Set aside while we make the dressing and assemble the salad.
For the dressing, whisk together the adobo sauce, lime juice and zest, sour cream, 1 teaspoon of the garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste.
Slice the corn kernels off of the cob, dice the sweet potato slices, and toss the fixins together for the brightest and smokiest salad of the summer.
Hello, gorgeous. Welcome to my summer table.