Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad with Tamarind and Mango Vinaigrette

I love this salad simply because it is so colorful and beautiful to look at. I love how food gets me so excited- I guess that is why I do what I do and love every minute of it.

I made this salad for the book club meeting. Since I was making some chicken tikkas, I wanted to make a salad to balance the dishes out. I also wanted the salad to have Indian flavors. I thought of a corn salad my sister in law makes all the time. She uses regular corn and a tamarind chutney. The tamarind chutney is made out of lots of dried tamarind, sugar, salt, cumin and cayenne pepper. It is a bit laborious to make but I always have it in the fridge. It has so much sugar and salt that it lasts in the fridge for ever. It is great to have it on hand and serve it with tikkas and actually a lot of Indian street food is served with this chutney.

When I thought of posting this recipe- I wasn’t sure how people would make the chutney at home- I guess you can buy it at the Indian stores- but I prefer to make it at home. I thought of tamarind concentrate which is available at Whole Foods and other grocery stores. I made a vinaigrette with the tamarind concentrate, olive oil and this time I used some mango lemonade from Trader Joes. It gave the dressing a sweet, tangy, mango flavor which complemented the sour tamarind really well. It was very delicious.

I paired the vinaigrette with roasted corn (my favorite ingredient from Trader Joes), cherry tomatoes, green onions and lots of cilantro. I topped it with pita chips- they provide a great crunch and some substance to the salad.

It was a big hit- everyone enjoyed it. Next time you are looking for a party appetizer, make the roasted corn and tomato salad.

• 1 bag (16 oz) frozen roasted corn, thawed
• 4 green onions, chopped
• ½ cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, chopped
• ½ cup pita chips, crushed

Add the roasted corn, green onions, cilantro, tomatoes and pita chips in a medium bowl.

Vinaigrette

• 1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 3 tablespoons mango lemonade
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon roasted cumin, crushed

Add the tamarind, honey, mango lemonade, salt, cayenne pepper and roasted cumin. Drizzle the olive oil slowly incorporating the dressing well.
Pour the vinaigrette into the salad, mix well and serve.