I was recently at a Soil Association dinner in a new London vegan restaurant that had rather a lot of Mexican food on its menu. I am always delighted by how easily one can eat great vegetarian or vegan Mexican with very few tweaks. This salad is inspired by that delicious dinner, and is perfect for eating in front of a great box-set or to make as part of a late-summer barbecue.
Grilled corn salad with tahini crema, charred tomato salsa and crispy tortillas
This dish is half salad, half nachos – just add black beans cooked with sauteed onion and garlic for a bit more bulk. Add a generous pinch of sugar to the tomato salsa if your tomatoes aren’t ripe or have been in a fridge.
Prep 20 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 6
3 heads sweetcorn
2 red onions, peeled, 1 finely chopped, 1 cut into 6 wedges
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
4 garlic cloves, peeled, 2 crushed, 2 left whole
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper
3 large flour tortillas
600g baby tomatoes
2 red chillies
Juice of 2 limes
3 heads baby gem lettuce, separated into leaves
1 avocado, peeled, stoned and sliced, to serve
1 large handful roughly chopped coriander leaves
For the crema
2 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp water
Heat the grill to high. Shave the corn kernels from the cobs with a sharp knife, and put them on a large baking tray. Toss with the chopped onion, cumin, paprika, one of the crushed garlic cloves and two tablespoons of the oil, and season well with salt and pepper. Grill for 10-12 minutes, until blackened a little. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.
Rub the tortillas in the remaining oil, then arrange on the baking tray in a single layer (you may have to do this in batches). Grill for a minute a side until golden and crisp.
Meanwhile, put the tomatoes, onion wedges, red chillies and the two whole garlic cloves in a large frying pan and turn up the heat. Dry-roast for eight to 10 minutes, turning with tongs, until blackened at the edges and softened: scoop the ingredients out into a blender as they char. Once all are in the blender, blitz to a rough salsa, then adjust the seasoning with some salt and pepper and half the lime juice, and set aside.
To make the tahini crema, put the rest of the crushed garlic and the tahini in a small bowl and whisk in the olive oil, followed by the water and the rest of the lime juice. Season to taste: it should be rich, and the consistency of pouring cream, so add more water if necessary.
To assemble, scatter the lettuce over a large platter or tray. Break over the tortillas, then scatter with corn, dollops of the salsa and the avocado slices. Drizzle everything with the tahini crema, top with the coriander and tuck in.
And for the rest of the week
This salad is delicious with feta or small cubes of sauteed chorizo. The tahini dressing is good with grilled sardines or mackerel, or use it to dress a fried egg and braised greens on toast for a very quick supper.
