Creamy avocado, bright tomatoes, and golden kernels come together to make a delicious and nutritious salad!
My wife and I have been finding every way to brighten up our meals after starting our low-carb diet some months ago. The word “bright” does double duty when I say it: both light, refreshing flavors and colorful ingredients! Diverse colors in food are appealing to look at and even more appealing to eat, as more colorful food generally has a wider variety of flavors. Color has always been inviting to the eye, so how were we supposed to turn down delicious salads that are filling and delicious?
We’ve been eating salads wherever we can and replacing many of our favorite meals with bowl alternatives where possible, and the result has been exquisite—we get to eat what we like with significantly fewer (and sometimes absolutely none!) of the complex carbohydrates. Low-carb power bowls and no-carb salads are often vibrant dishes with a variety of flavors. Our avocado corn salad is filled with crimson tomatoes, verdant avocado, and golden nuggets of corn. These bring deliciously refreshing flavors to meet the crisp, bright flavors present, like herbs, lime, and red onion. When mixed together, you create a visually striking dish that brings a splash of color to lunch or dinner!
Salads & Power Bowls: What’s the Difference?
There is sometimes a bit of confusion between salads and power bowls. While it may sound like a “power bowl” is just a rebranded salad, the distinction between the two is something that might get totally glossed over unless you look at the two side by side. Put plainly, the primary difference between salads and power bowls is the presence of proteins and complex carbohydrates.
Salad typically consists entirely of vegetables with a relatively minor presence of proteins (like meat and cheese) and complex carbs (like croutons or nuts). This results in a crisp and refreshing dish that’s filling, healthy, and easily clears keto contingencies (like keeping your daily carb intake below a certain goal). Power bowls, on the other hand, typically prioritize their meat/cheese ingredients for the protein they bring to the dish, which is what gives the bowl of food its “power”. Even power bowls that use legumes or tofu put more emphasis on the presence of its protein, resulting in more complex carbohydrates in the meal.
Effectively, if you’re trying to cut the carbs out of your diet, it can be helpful to discern just how many complex carbs you’re eating in a power bowl compared to a salad—which is why our avocado corn salad only has ~18 carbs per serving!
What To Love About Avocado Corn Salad!
You read that right: each serving of our avocado corn salad has roughly 18 carbs per serving and 270 calories—those are shockingly small numbers for such a big portion of food! It’s naturally vegan, keto-friendly, and paleo, which makes it perfect no matter which diet you’re trying to stick to. If that’s not enough to love avocado corn salad, just tasting it will have you sold just like my wife and I are. Astringent tomatoes, creamy avocados, bright red onion, zesty lime, herbaceous cilantro, and crisp corn come together to create a medley of deliciousness you’d be convinced were more indulgent than they really are. Such a scrumptious salad makes perfect for lunch servings and plates nicely next to just about any entrée, so try it for yourself.
Ingredients
- 4 ears of corn, shucked and cooked (or 2 (15 oz) cans of corn, drained)
- 2 avocados, diced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 small red onion, finely diced
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 2 limes, juiced
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
How to Make Avocado Corn Salad
Step 1: Prepare your corn by either grilling or boiling it, then cut the kernels off the cob. If using canned corn, drain and rinse it.
Step 2: In a large bowl, combine the corn, diced avocado, halved cherry tomatoes, diced red onion, and chopped cilantro.
Step 3: In a separate bowl, whisk together the lime juice, lime zest, minced garlic, olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
Step 4: Drizzle the dressing over the corn salad mixture and toss gently until well combined.
Step 5: Let the salad chill in the fridge for at least one hour to allow the flavors to meld. Serve cold or at room temperature.
FAQs & Tips
How to Make Ahead and Store?
Avocado corn salad is delicious chilled, so why not store your finished portions in airtight containers and keep them in the fridge? It’ll last for around 4-5 days, so you can have avocado corn salad just about any time!
My Avocado Is Browning, Does That Mean It’s Bad?
Avocado, much like other fruit (and, yes! Avocado is a fruit!), will begin to oxidize when its cut meat is exposed to the air. Typically, the addition of lime juice (or any citric acid) will help preserve the coloration of your avocado once it’s been cut into. While it may be visually unappealing, there’s nothing wrong with your avocado if you start to see it brown after you cut it; however, if your avocado is brown or mushy when you cut into it, you’ve got an overripe avocado.
What’s Better For My Corn: Roasting, Boiling, Or Canned?
I personally stand by roasting your corn when it comes to any corn salad, and I’ll double down on this one. That said, you can definitely boil your corn for a simpler corn flavor out of your golden kernels. If you don’t mind the possibility of added sodium, canned is far more convenient than either roasting or boiling. But, if you ask me how I make mine, I’d say I take the time for a delicious roasted corn finish.
Serving Suggestions
Avocado corn salad is a flexible, refreshing side dish or an eye-appealing appetizer for just about any lunch or dinner you have planned. Considering it’s easy to make, you can’t go wrong serving avocado corn salad with your favorites! For a meal of equally easy plates, try avocado corn with easy foil-baked salmon fillets (or salmon steaks) and easily sautéed broccoli—top it all with an easy-peasy green goddess dressing, and you’ve got a meal that’s light and breezy! If you want something to keep with the bright and colorful flavor motifs of avocado corn salad, try it with a lunch spread of Caprese skewers, nutty pesto pasta salad, and balsamic dressing! Avocado corn salad is so flavorful and flexible that I can’t imagine any meal it doesn’t make a delicious accompaniment for!
Avocado Corn Salad
Ingredients
- 4 ears of corn shucked and cooked (or 2 (15 oz) cans of corn, drained)
- 2 avocados diced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 small red onion finely diced
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- 2 limes juiced
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare your corn by either grilling or boiling it, then cut the kernels off the cob. If using canned corn, drain and rinse it.
- In a large bowl, combine the corn, diced avocado, halved cherry tomatoes, diced red onion, and chopped cilantro.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the lime juice, lime zest, minced garlic, olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
- Drizzle the dressing over the corn salad mixture and toss gently until well combined.
- Let the salad chill in the fridge for at least one hour to allow the flavors to meld. Serve cold or at room temperature.
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