The weather has been sooo amazing in Chicago. Between zoo trips and lake picnics, garden dates and the park, we have been living outside the last week or so. We even squeezed in a trip to the beach!

The warmer temps mean we are also spending a lot of time grilling our meals. Chris absolutely loves to grill and while we will occasionally still grill something in the cooler weather, we really take advantage of the warm weather and grill a ton in the spring/summer.

Being a vegetarian, the idea of grilling can seem a little more limiting. (I love me a veggie burger and a great veggie kabob, but I can only eat so much of that.) We started making this grilled corn salad last summer and it has become a staple for us. We eat it regularly, in fact, and have served it to many friends and family who adore it, too.

It's really a simple salad to make but it's extremely flavorful and satisfying. You can also grill the corn ahead of time if you want to save yourself time in the evening, or bring it to work for lunch.

The recipe serves two but you can easily make more. We usually double it.

You'll need:

For the salad:

2 ears of corn, grilled

2 avocados, peeled and diced

1/4 c. basil cut into small pieces

Salt and Pepper

For the dressing:

4 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice

4 Tbsp of maple syrup

4 Tbsp of canola or vegetable oil

2 Tbsp of rice vinegar

2 Tbsp of soy sauce

2 garlic gloves

1. First, make the dressing. Simply place all of the ingredients in your blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

2. Grill your corn. Cook them on all sides until some of the kernels blacken. (Approximately ten minutes.) Once the corn has cooled, cut the kernels off the cob and place them in a medium sized bowl.

3. Cut your avocados. Remove the seeds and then dice, scooping out all of the pieces from the skin. Add the diced avocados to the bowl with the corn kernels. 

4. Add the basil and 3-4 Tbsp of dressing to the corn and avocado mixture. Gently stir and mix well. 

5. Cut a head of romaine lettuce in half length wise. Place each half on a plate cut side up.

6. Split the mixture between the two halves of lettuce. Add additional dressing and salt and pepper as desired.

*Note: Depending on how much dressing you like you may have some left over. It will stay well in the fridge for at least a week if you want to enjoy it on something else or another corn salad.

I hope you love this yummy salad as much as we do! Happy grilling season! xo