Usually, I don’t like chunky salsa. But the corn salsa option from Chipotle has brought me around a little. Get ready to indulge in the smoky and vibrant flavors of this grilled poblano corn salsa. This delightful salsa combines the natural sweetness of grilled corn with the mild heat and distinctive taste of poblano peppers, creating a harmony of flavors that will keep you coming back for more.

I love the taste of fresh homemade salsa and this recipe takes full advantage of making it from scratch. The result is a super fresh mix of flavors that will brighten up your dip game.

Grilled poblano corn salsa is the perfect addition to your outdoor feasts, picnics, or even a simple chips-and-salsa snack session. With every bite, you’ll experience a medley of textures and tastes that will awaken your palate and leave your taste buds dancing with joy.

So, grab your apron, fire up the grill, and let’s embark on a culinary adventure that will have your friends and family asking for seconds. Get ready to savor the essence of summer in every spoonful with our grilled poblano corn salsa—a delightful twist on regular salsa.

Poblano Corn Salsa Ingredients

To make poblano corn salsa you must start with good ingredients. That’s why we recommend using fresh produce whenever possible. And fresh is really the only way to go when it comes to this delicious salsa.

To craft the mouthwatering and vibrant flavors of this grilled poblano corn salsa, I’ve assembled a medley of fresh and zesty ingredients that harmonize to perfection. Each element contributes its unique character, resulting in a salsa that is truly a culinary masterpiece. Trust me.

1. Corn: A star ingredient adding a delightful, sweet crunch to the salsa. Grilling the corn enhances its flavors, making it a perfect base for our charred and smoky salsa.
2. Poblano Peppers: Milder, flavorful peppers for a gentle kick of heat and a rich smokiness to the salsa. The grilling and steaming process removes some of the harshness of the peppers.
3. Red Bell Pepper: Adding a burst of color and a touch of sweetness; it really makes things look pretty.
4. Black Beans: Hearty legumes provide a satisfying texture and earthy flavor to balance out the salsa.
5. Avocados: Creamy and indulgent, avocados bring a luscious texture and richness to the salsa.
6. Red Onion: With its sharp tang, red onion adds a refreshing zing, cutting through the other ingredients.
7. Cilantro: This aromatic herb infuses the salsa with its herbal fresh and bright notes.
8. Lime Juice: Sour and acidic tang for added zest.
9. Spices:
   • Salt: You always need salt.
   • Cumin: Warm, earthy undertones that complement the smokiness of the grilled components.
   • Chipotle Powder: Subtle smoky heat! I may have a chipotle pepper addiction.
   • Black Pepper: Infusing a gentle spiciness that enhances everything.

The vibrant colors, bold flavors, and delightful textures will make this salsa a standout addition to any meal, be it a lively gathering or a simple moment of indulgence.

Grilling the Corn and Peppers

Grilling the corn and peppers infuses the salsa with a nice char and smokiness, elevating both flavor and texture. Let’s dive into the simple yet transformative process of grilling these ingredients.

Start by preheating your grill to medium-high heat. We want it nice and hot before placing anything on the grates. You may want to wipe down the grill grates with some oil using a paper towel and long grilling tongs. Take a look at my top 10 grilling tips for some more details.

Prepare the corn by shucking it to remove the husks and silks. Rinse the corn under cold water to ensure it’s clean and ready for grilling. Pat it dry with a clean kitchen towel. Prep the poblanos and red bell pepper by washing them thoroughly and drying them with a towel.

With the grill preheated, place the corn, poblano peppers, and bell pepper directly on the grill grates and let them cook for 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally to achieve even charring. The corn should be tender and slightly charred with a beautiful golden color when it’s ready. The peppers should have blistered and slightly blackened skin.

If a grill isn’t available, char them under the broiler. Place the veggies on a baking sheet and put them on a rack 4-6 inches from the heat. Let them cook, turning occasionally for 5 to 15 minutes until charred.

These ingredients will be the focal point of a salsa that embodies the essence of summer and outdoor grilling. But we’re not quite done with preparing the peppers, we’ll need to do something with them right after taking them off the grill.

Getting Steamy with Poblano Corn Salsa?

After grilling, it’s time to get steamy. With the peppers. This simple step allows us to remove the papery, charred skin from the outside.

Once the peppers are nicely charred, carefully transfer them into a resealable plastic bag or a bowl covered with plastic wrap. This simple steaming method creates a mini sauna inside the bag, causing the residual heat to soften the peppers and create steam. As the peppers steam, the trapped heat further loosens the skin, making it a breeze to peel off.

Seal the bag and let the peppers rest for about 10 minutes. During this short but crucial time, the peppers undergo a transformation—the skin loosens, and the flavors intensify as the steam works its magic. When you open the bag after the steaming process, you’ll notice the skin is wrinkled and separated from the flesh.

While the peppers are steaming, you can begin some of the chopping and measuring of the remaining ingredients.

After 10 minutes, remove the peppers from the bag or bowl. Gently rub the skin off the poblano peppers with your fingers or a paper towel. The skin should peel off effortlessly, revealing the smoky, tender flesh underneath.

Chop and Mix the Ingredients

It’s time to bring together the vibrant medley of flavors that will make our grilled poblano corn salsa truly exceptional. Get your chopping board and knife ready for the next phase.

Note that you can be doing a lot of this prep work while other items are grilling or steaming. It’ll make the whole salsa come together much faster.

Take the grilled corn and carefully cut the kernels off the cobs. You can do this by standing each cob upright on a cutting board and sliding the knife downward to remove the kernels.

With the skins removed, dice the grilled poblano peppers and bell pepper into small, bite-sized pieces.

Rinse and chop the cilantro, peel and finely dice the red onion, and halve and dice the avocado. Drain and rinse the black beans to remove any excess liquid.

Add all of the ingredients together into a large mixing bowl. Gently toss the ingredients together, trying to get an evenly distributed mix.

As the ingredients come together in a vibrant symphony of colors and flavors, you’ll witness the magic unfold right before your eyes. The result is a grilled poblano corn salsa that’s as visually captivating as it is irresistible to the taste buds. So, grab your tortilla chips, tacos, or anything else you desire, and get ready to dive into a salsa experience like no other.

What to Serve with Poblano Corn Salsa

You’ll never go wrong serving a big bowl of salsa with chips, but there’s a lot more you can do with it. Try it as a dip, or serve it as a salad topping, or use it as a side dish.

As you prepare to indulge in this smoky and vibrant delight, consider some delightful serving ideas that will truly elevate your meal. Try any of the following recipes for a delicious combination:

• Classic Tortilla Chips – It’s a classic for a reason. This match made in heaven combines the flavorful, smoky salsa with the perfectly salty crunch of chips.
• Ultimate Meat and Cheese Quesarito – A quesadilla an a burrito combined. Add some of this salsa either inside or on top to really elevate this culinary creation.
• Fried Baja Shrimp Burrito – Fried shrimp with a creamy sauce can only get better with this salsa mix.
• Rice Cooker Mexican Rice – If using the salsa as a side dish, pair it with this simple and delicious side as well.
• Nachos – Elevate your nacho game by topping them with some poblano corn salsa.
• Grilled Meats – If you’re already grilling for the salsa, may as well grill up some meat like chicken, carne asada, or pork chops.

No matter how you choose to serve it, this grilled poblano corn salsa is the star of the show. Its versatility allows you to pair it with an assortment of dishes, transforming each bite into a fiesta of flavors.

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this poblano corn salsa! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Fresh Grilled Poblano Corn Salsa

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: CondimentDifficulty: Easy

Servings

10

servings

Prep time

25

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Total time

40

minutes

Learn how to grill and roast poblano peppers, red peppers, and corn so they become deliciously charred in this poblano corn salsa.

Ingredients

• 3 ears corn

• 2 poblano peppers

• 1 red bell pepper

• 1 cup canned black beans

• 2 medium avocados

• 1/4 cup red onion, diced

• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

• 2 tablespoons lime juice, freshly squeezed

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle powder

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

• Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.
• Shuck the corn and wash the peppers.
• Place the corn, poblano peppers, and red bell pepper on the grill over medium heat or alternatively, place them under the broiler on a sheet pan.
• Grill for 15-20 minutes, flipping throughout to get an even char.
• Once cooked with an even char, remove them all from the grill and then immediately place the poblano and red bell peppers in a plastic bag or in a bowl covered with plastic wrap.
• Seal the bag shut and set it aside to steam for about 10 minutes.
• While the peppers are steaming, cut the kernels from the corn cobs when they are cool enough to handle and add them to a large bowl.
• Rinse and chop the cilantro, peel and finely dice the red onion, halve and dice the avocados, drain and rinse the black beans to remove any excess liquid. Add all of them to the bowl with the corn.
• Remove the peppers from the plastic bag or bowl and peel the skin off the outside.
• Chop the peppers and add them to the bowl.
• Add the lime juice, salt, cumin, chipotle powder, and black pepper to the bowl.
• Gently toss the ingredients together, trying to get an evenly distributed mix.

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While living in Texas we invited our friends over for dinner. I was making my chicken pot pie and we asked them to bring a side or salad. When they showed up for dinner, they had brought quite a large salad. We tossed the salad together and had it on the side with the pot pie. It was delicious. And it became the basis for this apple walnut spring mix salad.

About halfway through the meal, we learned that one of our friends had never had a pot pie that she liked. And so the salad was really brought to be a backup meal for her. Fortunately, she did enjoy the pot pie (at least that’s what she said…) but we also thoroughly enjoyed the salad.

I haven’t always been the biggest fan of salads, but I was on board with this one. My wife especially enjoys it, this is one of her favorites.

I love how food can be all about sharing and enjoying together. And in my house when we request or talk about this salad, we just call it the Hansen salad. Cause that’s who shared it with us.

But I don’t know if that is a descriptive enough name for the site, so apple walnut spring mix salad it is.

Spring Mix Salad

This salad comes together quickly and is assembled by just tossing everything together. Just make sure that you start out with washed and prepared greens that are ready to eat.

Only the bacon needs to be cooked beforehand. And a bunch of the ingredients must be chopped. But other than that it is a cinch to make.

Optionally, you can set all of the toppings out in bowls separate from the greens. That way, people can assemble their own plates according to their tastes and any dietary restrictions. This is especially helpful if you are having a large group together with this salad.

For the dressing, I highly recommend a salad dressing shaker or a mason jar with a lid. The salad dressing likes to separate and a good, vigorous shaking together will help it stay emulsified long enough to serve. Stirring the dressing together is not as effective.

You can make the dressing ahead of time if desired. It will keep in the fridge for 2 to 4 weeks. Technically it could also be stored on the counter since all of the ingredients are shelf-stable. But that feels weird once you’ve mixed it up.

Salad Remix

There’s always an opportunity in cooking for changes and alterations in recipes. It’s the fun spice of life that makes cooking interesting in my opinion.

I think originally whenever our friends brought this salad over, the greens were all baby spinach. I like a little more variety to the greens, so I made it a spring mix salad. Spring mix includes a whole combination of greens and lettuces for different flavors and textures. But you could always try substituting with straight baby spinach, or whatever other greens you happen to have on hand.

Mixing up all of the other ingredients can be a fun adventure as well.

For the nuts, replace the walnuts with pecans or almonds. For the cheese, substitute the feta with another creamy variety like crumbled goat or gorgonzola. Toss in some blueberries or other fruit to add another dimension.

However you like it, make it your own. And enjoy this salad as either your next main dish or as the best side salad you’ve ever tasted.

Apple Walnut Spring Mix Salad

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SaladsDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Total time

20

minutes

Creamy feta and avocado combine with crisp apple, bacon, and walnuts with a delightfully acidic dressing in this perfect spring mix salad

Ingredients

• Dressing

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 3 tablespoons white vinegar

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• Salad

• 6 cups washed spring mix greens

• 3 to 4 strips cooked bacon

• 1/2 cup chopped red onion

• 1 large avocado

• 1 large apple

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• 1/3 cup craisins

• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

• 1/2 cup prepared dressing

Directions

• Dressing
• Combine all dressing ingredients in a container with a lid
• Vigorously shake the container until the dressing is thoroughly combined
• Store the dressing in the fridge until ready to use, shaking to combine again just before serving
• Salad
• Crumble the cooked bacon
• Chop the red onion, avocado, apple, and walnuts into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch pieces
• Add the spring mix greens to a large bowl
• Top the greens with crumbled bacon, chopped red onion, chopped avocado, chopped apple, chopped walnuts, craisins, and feta cheese
• Toss the salad together with tongs
• Serve into bowls and top with salad dressing

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The post Easy Apple Walnut Spring Mix Salad Recipe appeared first on Do You Roux?.

Guacamole is like ordering ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. You mash up the avocados and then you get to choose all of your mix-ins. And while the base itself is really good, the mix-ins help determine how it all comes together. This is how to make guacamole in the best way possible.

For the basic ingredients, we start with avocados, lime juice, and salt. That is really how to make a simple guacamole. This gives you a creamy delicious dip that pairs with almost anything. But if you want a little more excitement with your guac, add in some flavor and wow factor.

I highly recommend getting your avocados a few days before you will need to use them. Straight from the grocery store they are typically still not quite ripe and wouldn’t make the perfect guac. They might even be too hard to even attempt mashing. Countertop ripening is really the best method, but it is the slowest. Place them in a brown paper bag to let them breathe but keep them in a semi-enclosed space. If you really need to speed up the ripening, introduce a banana or apple to the paper bag.

And if your avocados are ripe and you’re not quite ready to use them, then stick them in the fridge where they’ll stay for 1 to 3 days before going overripe. Fun fact – at one point avocados were referred to as alligator pears. Go figure.

Guacamole Mix-Ins

Like I said before, the mix-ins are what truly define how to make guacamole. You can tailor it to the tastes, preferences, and dietary restrictions of anyone enjoying the dip. Experiment a little and you can even discover your own true signature guacamole mix. You can even serve the guacamole surrounded by all of the different options for people to mix their own.

The first time I really saw a guacamole addition that blew my mind was ordering tableside guac at Mi Dia. The server mixing it up fresh for us asked the spice level we wanted and went through all of the mix-in options. When he asked if we wanted to include bacon I was confused. I had never had bacon in guacamole before and for some reason, it seemed strange. But then we tried it. I have added bacon to like 75% of my homemade batches since.

Of all the options out there, here are the flavor additions that I recommend the most: hot sauce (I prefer Cholula), tomatoes, salsa, sun-dried tomatoes, red onion, crispy chopped bacon, garlic, peppers (jalapeno most commonly), corn, cilantro, and pineapple.

So look that list over and decide what you think sounds like the most winning combination. Also, consider quickly char-roasting any of the vegetables you might add to the guacamole. It will add a great depth of flavor. You can toss the veggies on the grill or throw them under the broiler on high for just a few minutes.

What to Pair

Guacamole makes for the perfect party dip. Pair it with salsa and cream cheese dill dip for an ultimate triple-dipping spread. This is great for parties, small get-togethers, or even just to have out as an after-school snack.

For dipping use any of the following: tortilla chips, pita chips, pita bread, sliced sweet peppers, carrot sticks

You can use guacamole as a sort of appetizer dip, but it can also be used as a side or topping for a variety of dishes. For these dishes, guacamole is no longer the star of the show, but an accompaniment to transform the dish into the best that it can taste.

For topping, try any of these dishes: enchiladas, burgers, tacos, omelets, southwest salad, tortilla soup, quesadillas

However you use the guac, know that you can mix it up with exactly what you want. Just keep in mind that if you use every single mix in that I have listed, you may need a little more avocado with your toppings.

How to Make Guacamole

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: AppetizersDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Total time

15

minutes

Creamy avocado dip made exactly how you like it

Ingredients

• 4 large avocados

• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• Optional Mix-Ins

• 1/3 cup diced tomatoes

• 1/3 cup diced red onion

• 1 tablespoon minced cilantro

• 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic

• 1/4 cup chopped crispy bacon

• 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes

• 2 teaspoons hot sauce

• 2 tablespoons diced jalapeno pepper

• 1/3 cup corn

• 1/3 cup diced pineapple

Directions

• Slice the avocados in half and remove the pits
• Use a spoon to scoop the fruit out of the skin
• Add the avocado, lime juice, and salt to a large mixing bowl
• Use a fork to smash and stir the avocado together, leaving some larger chunks of avocado
• Loosely stir in any of the desired toppings and then serve

Notes

• If you are trying to store guacamole for later use or as leftovers, use an airtight container and press plastic wrap directly to the top of the entire exposed surface to keep it from browning

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