Corn and Arugula Salad with Creamy Ancho Dressing
This corn and arugula salad is the perfect summertime side dish, or you can turn it into a main course with grilled shrimp or chicken. It's sweet, salty, smoky, crunchy and creamy, and it tastes like a lightened-up version of Mexican street corn!
Whenever we have sweet corn with dinner I always make a few extra cobs so that I can use the kernels later in the week. This corn arugula salad is our favorite way to use up leftover corn, but it’s also reason enough to cook it in the first place. The salad is inspired by Mexican street corn but tastes lighter and more vibrant, with a range of textures and tastes.
The creamy but light ancho dressing is a cinch to make and ties everything together. Lime juice and mayonnaise provide the base for the dressing. They get whisked with garlic, smoked paprika and ancho chile powder for flavor. If you can't find ancho chile powder (which is simply ground ancho chilies) you can use a regular chili powder blend instead (which is a blend of ground chilies with other spices such as cumin and oregano). The dressing can be made several days ahead of time.
- ½ teaspoon lime zest
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ teaspoon ancho chile powder
- ⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups cooked corn kernels (about 4 cobs)
- 3 handfuls baby arugula
- 4-5 radishes, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup coarsely chopped cilantro
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup crumbled feta or cotija cheese
- 2 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)