What's Cooking: Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

Always looking for new side dishes, I have made this salad a few times recently. It doesn't take much time, and I like that it is not your typical: starch (potato or pasta) mixed with mayo and mustard or ranch dressing. My only challenge was keeping the corn kernels in the cast iron skillet because they wanted to pop out of the pan as they were charring!

Recipe: 

2 cups (6 oz) radiatori noodles (I used rotini)
2 T. olive oil
1 (15 oz) can corn kernels, drained
1 large avocado, diced
3 green onions, diced
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
6 strips cooked thick cut bacon, roughly chopped
1/2 c. feta cheese, crumbled
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed

Dressing:

1/2 cup mayo

3 T. lime juice

1/8 t. cumin

1/4 t. paprika

1/2 t. chili powder

1 t. hot sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Toss with olive oil and set aside. 

Corn roasting: In a large cast iron skillet over high heat, add corn in single layer. Char 2-3 minutes, then flip and char other side ( It took less that 2-3 minutes to char on my stove).

Assembly: In a large bowl, combine pasta, corn, avocado, green onions, cilantro, jalapeno, bacon, feta, and black beans. 

Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a separate bowl and drizzle over salad. Toss to coat.

Store in refrigerator. 

Serves 10