Truly Yummy Mexican Salad

A fresh, gluten free and dairy free Mexican-inspired salad packed with sweetcorn, black beans, sweet peppers and avocado. The perfect side for BBQs, Cajun chicken and summer entertaining.

Quick, fresh and full of flavour

One of our favourite summer meals is butterflied Cajun chicken cooked on the gas BBQ and served with my Truly Yummy Mexican Salad. It’s fresh, colourful, naturally gluten free and dairy free and quick enough for a busy midweek meal while being just as perfect for summer entertaining. We like to BBQ all year round, so I make this salad throughout the year too. It’s the perfect accompaniment to BBQ chicken, grilled meats or anything with a tasty dry rub.

I’m always on the lookout for quick, easy and tasty meals during the week. Why wait until the weekend to enjoy something special? There are plenty of gluten free and dairy free dry rubs available in UK supermarkets and simply butterflying a chicken breast, coating it with Cajun seasoning and cooking it on the BBQ makes a delicious meal. But I wanted something a little more exciting to serve alongside the chicken than the usual salad and chips.

That’s why my Truly Yummy Mexican Salad was born. I was looking for a side that was fresh, colourful and full of flavour but that would still be simple enough to prepare on a busy weeknight. This salad ticks all the boxes and has become one of our favourites.

Inspired by Sabrina Ghayour

The inspiration for this salad came from Sabrina Ghayour’s Simply cookbook. I came across the recipe for a sweetcorn, black bean and avocado salad which sounded delicious, so I decided to adapt it to create my own Truly Yummy version. I changed some of the ingredients and quantities to suit our tastes and of course to make sure it was gluten free and dairy free.

The result is a fresh, colourful salad with sweetcorn, black beans, peppers and creamy avocado. It has plenty of flavour and a lovely combination of textures.

The Perfect BBQ Side

This salad is incredibly easy to prepare and can be made ahead of time, making it ideal when you’re entertaining or simply want to get dinner on the table without spending ages in the kitchen. It’s particularly good served alongside Cajun chicken but it also works beautifully with grilled meats, BBQ dishes or anything with a tasty dry rub. 

I also love serving it with my Truly Yummy Sweet Potato Fries. If you’d prefer to make your own Cajun seasoning, you’ll find my simple homemade spice blend below.

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Truly Yummy Mexican Salad

Gluten free and dairy free Mexican salad. Recommended ingredients sweetcorn, black beans, spring onions, red pepper, green pepper, red chilli pepper, avocado, coriander, mayonnaise, extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 6

Equipment

• 1 salad bowl

Ingredients

  

• 300 g tin of sweet corn, drained and rinsed or 3 sweetcorn cobs cooked
• 400 g tin of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced
• 1 red pepper, cored, deseeded and finely diced
• 1 green pepper, cored, deseeded and finely diced
• ½ red chilli pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 avocados, peeled and diced into 2cm cubes
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander or frozen chopped coriander
• 2-3 tbsp mayonnaise recommend Stokes Mayonnaise
• 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper

Instructions

 

• If using, cook the sweetcorn cobs in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and allow to cool in a bowl of cold water whilst you prepare the other ingredients.
• In a salad bowl, add the spring onions, red and green peppers, red chilli pepper, coriander, black beans, avocado and either the tinned sweetcorn or carefully slice the sweetcorn off the cooked cobs. Do not worry if the sweetcorn stays together this adds to the texture.
• Mix together with the mayonnaise and extra virgin olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper.
• Either serve immediately or store covered in the fridge until serving.

Notes

Truly Yummy Cajun Seasoning

• 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• 2 tsp garlic granules
• 1 tsp onion granules
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper 
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt

Mix everything together and store in an airtight jar for up to 6 months.

Use approximately 2–3 teaspoons of seasoning per butterflied chicken breast, coating both sides before cooking. No need to use oil, the seasoning sticks easily to the chicken.

 

Keyword avocado salad, black bean salad, Dairy free mexican salad, Gluten free mexican salad, mexican salad recipe, sweetcorn salad, Truly Yummy Mexican Salad

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