Description
Grilled corn with creamy lime sauce and crunchy chickpeas piled on nutty quinoa. This famous Mexican street food is now a complete dinner with this Easy Elote Bowl recipe. This recipe is adapted from Purple Carrot, a Vegan Meal Kit company.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed – any color white, red, black or tri-color
- 1 2/3 cups water or vegetable broth
- Two 13-ounce cans of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
- 2 lime zested and juiced
- 1 lime quartered for garnish
- 12-oz bag of frozen corn, roasted or regular
- 4 radishes
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 2 jalapeno, trim, deseed, and dice
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup avocado mayonaise
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup pepita (pumpkin) seeds
Instructions
- Prep Chickpeas – Preheat oven to 400º. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel to dry.
- Cook Quinoa – Rinse quinoa under water in a mesh sieve. Add 1-2/3 cups water or broth to a medium saucepan and boil. Add quinoa, cover the pan, and reduce heat to low. Cook until all water is absorbed, 17 – 20 minutes.
- Prep Ingredients – Zest and juice the lime. Thinly slice the radishes. Roughly chop the cilantro. Trim, deseed, and mince the jalapenos. If you want more heat, slice the jalapenos crosswise, leaving membranes and seeds intact. Wash your hands and cutting board after handling jalapenos.
- Combine Elote Sauce – Combine yogurt, mayonnaise, cheese, juice of one lime, zest of one lime, and cayenne pepper. Stir to mix.
- Roast Chickpeas – Add chickpeas to a sheet pan, pour olive oil over beans, and combine. Sprinkle with paprika—place in preheated oven and roast for 15 minutes. Transfer roasted chickpeas to a serving bowl. Add the remaining lime juice, zest, and jalapenos to the chickpeas.
- Cook corn – Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large skillet (cast iron or nonstick) on medium-high. A cast iron skillet can handle more heat. Most nonstick pans should not use high heat. Add frozen corn and heat until cooked, about 4 – 5 minutes. Frozen corn does not char very well. Frozen roasted corn is very convenient and the preferred ingredient.*
- Make the Bowls – Divide the quinoa amount into four bowls; top each bowl with chickpea mixture and corn. Drizzle with Elote sauce, and garnish with radishes, cilantro, and pepita seeds. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper and salt and pepper. Olé!
Notes
*Use roasted frozen corn with the grill markings, if available at your grocery store.
Store leftovers in a covered dish in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It is good hot or cold as a leftover. Store the Elote sauce (yogurt sauce) separate from the corn dish.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stove and oven
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: Vegetarian, esquites bowl