Mexican Street Corn, Zucchini & Shrimp

This Mexican Street Corn, Zucchini & Shrimp dish has all the yummy flavors found in Mexican street corn combined with zucchini noodles and grilled (or roasted) shrimp for one tasty, healthy warm weather meal!  Vegetarian? No problem, just omit the shrimp!

One of my favorite things to eat in the summer is Mexican street corn.  However, I must confess, all the times I’ve been to Mexico, I’ve never had street corn there.  But, I do love to make Grilled Corn with Chile Butter, Lime and Queso Fresco at home when super fresh corn is available, or at least, I use to make it all the time. Unfortunately, as I have whined on here several times now, I don’t have a BBQ, so now I’m stuck having to grill my corn on a grill pan on the stove or roast it in the oven…next best thing I suppose.  So when I made some fantastic jicama wraps recently I had a couple of ears of corn leftover and decided to top it on some spiralized zucchini noodles for a quick and delicious dinner.

I’ve been trying to eat healthier meals and seem to be topping zucchini noodles with everything lately. I went an entire week eating various “zoodle” recipes for dinner.  So quick, easy and makes me feel like I’m eating something good for me, unlike the Bacon Jalapeño Mac N Cheese I devoured recently with my son (worth every calorie!).

I made the dressing for this Mexican Street Corn, Zucchini & Shrimp to have the delicious flavors of street corn whisked up in vinaigrette form.  It’s common to slather mayonnaise on Mexican street corn, but I opted for mostly olive oil today, with just a bit of mayonnaise for creaminess.  You could also skip the cooking of the zucchini noodles if you like.  Either way, cooked or uncooked, is delicious.  Since I was making this for dinner I added some roasted shrimp (you could grill the shrimp).  If you want a vegetarian version, just leave out the shrimp.  You could even add some black beans, that would be yummy.  Or if you’re not a vegetarian but don’t like shrimp, try topping it with some grilled chicken…or steak!  All good options.  It’s a pretty versatile dish.

Mexican Street Corn, Zucchini & Shrimp

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 ears corn, shucked, silk removed
• 2 medium zucchinis, sliced or spiralized into noodles
• 1/2 lbs shrimp, grilled or roasted
• 1/2 C. crumbled queso fresco or cotija cheese

For the dressing

• 1/4 C. olive oil
• 1 Tbls. mayonnaise
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 C. chopped cilantro, divided
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1/2 tsp. ancho chili powder (could use chipotle or regular chili powder)
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425º
2. Shuck corn, remove silk, etc., then slice kernels off cobs and place on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil (about 1 tbls.), salt & pepper. Roast corn kernels 4 minutes, until they’re just slightly cooked. You want them still sweet and pop when you bite into them.
3. In small bowl combine olive oil, mayonnaise, garlic, scallions, 1/4 c. cilantro, lime juice, honey, chili powder, cumin. Whisk well to combine.
4. Slice or spiralize zucchini into noodles. In large pan, quickly toss zucchini to warm up and slightly cook, about 2 minutes. Zucchini will start to release water. Remove zucchini from pan and place in large bowl.
5. Add corn, grilled shrimp (if using, or other protein) and dressing to zucchini and toss to combine.
6. Top with crumbled cotija or queso fresco cheese and remaining chopped cilantro.

Notes

I liked adding shrimp to this dish. Grilled chicken or steak would be great. Or keep it vegetarian and omit shrimp, try adding black beans instead.

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