Grilled Corn Vegan Salad

A few weeks ago we had friends from the US visit us. He eats meat and she’s vegan – a change from the last time I saw her when she was a raw vegan! We had a good old saffa braai to welcome them and I was given the task of bringing a vegan salad.

Remembering what Seychelle ate on her last trip out here, which was basically salad with avo, I wanted to make something a bit more exciting for her. Salads are easy to tweak for vegans in a way that’s still tasty and interesting.

I mixed and matched a few recipes and came up with a grilled corn vegan salad that’s also the perfect accompaniment for a braai. Try it out this summer when you’re getting bored of your usual green salad.

Grilled Corn Vegan Salad

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cobs of corn
• ½ cup lentils
• ½ cup of homemade pickled onions (recipe below)
• 1 avo, sliced
• 4 handfuls of rocket
• ¼ cup toasted cashew/brazil nuts
• Handful of basil leaves
• Handful of dill
• 2 limes
• Olive oil
• Salt, pepper

Instructions:

1. Pickle 3 red onions as follows: add thinly sliced onions, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 3-4 tbsp coconut sugar (can substitute with 2 tbsp honey if not making a vegan salad or 2 tbsp regular brown sugar), 1/2 cup water and salt & pepper to a saucepan. Cook for a minute and transfer the mixture to a glass jar. Allow to pickle for an hour before serving.
2. Chop cobs of corn into thirds and grill until they have a nice smokey char (can be done on the braai or in a griddle pan).
3. Boil lentils for approximately 20 minutes until cooked through but firm.
4. Finely chop dill and basil.
5. Add rocket, herbs, onions, avo and lentils to a salad bowl and toss.
6. Arrange corn around the edge of the bowl.
7. Drizzle lime juice and olive oil over it and serve.