Grilled Corn Salad with Creamy Chipotle Dressing

Grilled corn makes a great BBQ side dish, and fresh or leftover grilled corn makes a tasty salad. Mixed with fresh herbs and a few other ingredients then topped with a creamy chipotle sauce, you have a flavourful salad. Grilled Corn Salad with Creamy Chipotle Dressing makes a perfect side dish for your next BBQ.

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Side dishes are a must for any BBQ. The meat is always the star but you need good side dishes to complement the meat. And as much as we have a hard time admitting it, you cannot live on meat alone.

The dressing in this salad is simple and something I always have on hand. It’s my Homemade Chipotle Sauce that we use as a dip, to top burgers and tacos, and much more. It also serves well as a salad dressing and adds great flavour to the corn and peppers in this salad.

Some Like It Hot, Some Not So Much

This salad calls for jalapeno peppers which adds a little heat and compliments the chipotle sauce. But for those who prefer a milder taste, you can substitute sweet green peppers for the jalapenos. I use green peppers when I make this for younger kids.

If you prefer more heat, you can use a hotter pepper than jalapenos. Poblanos, Serranos and Habanero peppers are just a few that can be used in place of jalapenos. If you want it really hot, you could add Scotch Bonnet, Ghost peppers or Carolina Reapers. The intensity of the heat is up to you.

When it comes to a get-together, two different versions of this salad can be made. I will make a mild version and a hot version. Just don’t mix them up when serving. (For us, mild is served in a white bowl. Hot in a red bowl)

Fresh Is Best

The herbs used in this salad are fresh. Basil, cilantro and mint add flavour to the dish, but fresh is best. Dried herbs just don’t add the same flavour.

Even the black pepper is freshly grounded. But if you don’t have a pepper grinder, you can use packaged ground black pepper.

Although fresh corn on the cob is the star of this salad, the alternative is frozen corn. If using frozen corn, it can be quickly fried in a pan on the stove to brown it before mixing it with other ingredients.

I use three colours of peppers for better presentation. I love salads that are colourful and this one is no exception. Using red, yellow and orange peppers adds that colourful presentation I want. You can use three peppers of the same colour if you prefer. Green peppers can also be used.

Every city usually has a local farmer’s market, where fresh produce is sold. We are lucky to have the Byward Market, where during summer months I can find purple and white peppers to use in this corn salad to not only change up the flavour but also add different colours.