I was watching an America’s Test Kitchen video on the treadmill and saw a recipe for Esquites. It looked so good. For those who are not familiar with Esquites, it is a salad made to be like Mexican street corn. Mexican street corn has crema and cheese and warm spices. Equites take the corn off the cob and makes it into a nice side salad. I didn’t want this to be a mere side salad. I wanted to make this into a meal. I can do this by adding in a bit of protein and a few more veggies to the mix to round out the dish. Since this is a Mexican dish, I’m going to add some beans for protein. I’m also going to make it vegan. You should be able to use frozen corn for this and it will come out great. I would advise against canned corn, just because it would make the dish salty. I started with a recipe from the Edgy Veg and I am going to transform it. Here are the original stats:

Here’s what I changed:

• I added red bell pepper to increase the vitamin C.
• I added butternut squash for vitamin A.
• I added pinto beans to increase the fiber.

Here are the final stats:

Here’s the final recipe:

Vegan Esquites

Serves 4

• 1/3 cup vegan sour cream or vegan mayo
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 4 cups frozen corn, thawed
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup feta-style vegan cheese of choice
• 1/2-1 tsp chili powder
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 100g cubed cooked butternut squash
• 2 ounces of dry pinto beans
• Cooking spray

1. Add beans to water and soak 8 hours to overnight, drain.
2. Add the beans to a pot with water to cover.  Cook for 40 minutes until tender.  Drain and cool.
3. Heat a non-stick skillet on medium  heat and spray with cooking spray.  Add the corn, bell pepper, and squash.  Cook until well browned.  Set aside to cool.
4. Mix together vegan mayo or sour cream, garlic, and lime juice in a small bowl.
5. In your serving bowl, combine the corn, onion, vegetables, beans, cilantro, vegan cheese, and chili powder.
6. Mix the sauce into the other ingredients, garnish with additional cilantro and chili powder.
7. Serve