Refreshing Mexican Cucumber Corn Salad

I had a photoshoot with this salad on our balcony — the colors, the textures, the variety of ingredients — I loved it. This salad is beautiful, its light, it’s crisp, it’s refreshing, it’s COLD — and most importantly, it’s absolutely positively perfect for beating this awful South Asian 110 plus degree weather. Not only is it incredibly delicious, it was quick and easy, coming together in less than 30 minutes. One of my favorite things about this recipe is the minimal ingredients required — all fresh ones! Corn, cucumber, feta cheese, cilantro, onion — plus a slightly creamy/lime dressing. Served cold and with your favorite grilled chicken? Perfection!

I used English cucumbers because they’re my favorite — the skin isn’t too tough, and the seeds aren’t too big. I tend to find that in South Asia, they let their regular cucumbers grow too big making the seeds too hard and the skin too tough to eat. The English cucumbers stay slim and the perfect size/flavor. I used frozen corn here because it’s what I had, but you could totally use fresh too. Ideally, I think you’d want to use cotija cheese (which I have yet to see here) so I used feta and it was great.

Refreshing Mexican Cucumber Corn Salad

30 minutes - serves 4-6

6 cucumbers, diced

2 cups corn (I used frozen, so I sautéed mine in a tbs of ghee for about 7 minutes)

1 medium red onion minced

1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled

4 garlic cloves minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp chili powder

2 tbs mayonnaise

Juice of 2 nimbu or 3 tbs lemon juice

Salt & Pepper

1. In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients.

2. In a smaller bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients for the dressing.

3. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and toss. Refrigerate for 2 hours until until cold.

4. Serve cold with Copycat Montreal Chicken!