Mexican Style Corn & Quinoa Salad

"Elote is a Mexican street food marvel that consists of a grilled corncob slathered in mayonnaise and covered in cotija cheese. We know, incredible. Then, there's esquites. This is the easier-to-eat, less-messy version of elote, where the corn is cut off the cob, put into a cup, and mixed with the aforementioned mayo & cotija. Again, delicious. Now, there's Trader Joe's Mexican Style Corn & Quinoa Salad. It's our own esquites-meets-filling grain salad that has all the wonderful attributes of its two inspirational dishes—plus more! This wouldn't be Mexican Style Corn & Quinoa Salad if it didn't contain a healthy amount of Mexican style corn. But we go beyond the corn here. Brightly colored layers of grape tomatoes, kale, red & green cabbage, and a mixture of white quinoa and brown rice accompany the corn. It's made complete by a fresh lime wedge and a packet of roasted poblano cilantro dressing that recreates the delicious crema you'd find on elote and esquites. When all contents are emptied into a bowl and mixed together, you've got a salad that's sweet, fresh, and flavorful. You'll find this Salad makes for a deliciously filling vegetarian lunch-if you're looking for extra protein, follow our Grilled Tempeh with Mexican Style Corn and Quinoa Salad recipe for adding slices of grilled tempeh to the mix (grilled chicken or shrimp would be fantastic here, too). It's the ideal side dish to accompany any number of Mexican entrées: Trader Joe's Rojo or Verde Enchiladas, Chicken Taquitos, Black Bean & Cheese Burritos, or tacos made with our Carne Asada."