An Inspired Cook

I discovered corn salsa at Chipotle Mexican Grill.  For those who have a Chipotle’s in your neighborhood, you know how good their burritos and tacos are.  You build your own burritos or tacos with your choice of meat, beans, rice, and salsa.  The corn salsa adds something that I have tried to recreate many times and have finally found the ingredients that I think come as close to Chipotle’s as possible.  The secret is in the corn.  There’s a hint of sweetness that I’ve found comes from roasted corn.  Grilling brings out the sugars in the corn that gives it that special taste.  Try this corn salsa on any burrito, taco or enchilada and it will soon become a favorite topper.

The way I roast corn is with the husk on.  I pull down the husk and remove the silk.  Then pull the husk back up to cover the ears and soak in a cold water bath for 20 minutes.  This allows the corn to steam in the husk when grilling.

Place on a hot grill.  I give it 7 – 10 minutes and then turn it over.

See how the husks get the grill marks when turning but the corn is steaming inside.

My brother made a grill for me that I love to use, but it doesn’t have a lid so it takes a little longer to grill the corn. I turn it over every 7 – 10 minutes until it looks like this.  The outside husk has charred and you can see that the corn inside is just about perfect.

This will work on the charcoal grill also.  With the lid closed it will cook sooner, around 20 minutes should do it.




Cut the corn off the cob in a deep bowl.




I add some red onion, jalapeno and fresh cilantro.




Chop it fine.




Add the red onion, cilantro and jalapeno to your corn.  Salt to taste, but no more than a pinch.  You want the sweetness to come through, not the saltiness.



Roasted Corn Salsa

2 ears Corn, roasted on the grill
1 tablespoon Red Onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Cilantro, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Jalapeno, finely chopped
pinch of Salt

Peel the husk down from ear of corn and remove silk.  Pull husk back over ear and soak corn in cold water bath 20 minutes.  Place corn on hot grill, turning every 7 – 10 minutes until husks are charred and corn has steamed inside, approximately 20 – 30 minutes.

Cut corn from cob, add red onion, cilantro and jalapeno.  Add a pinch of salt and mix everything together.

Top burritos, tacos or enchiladas.