This Corn Salad With Dates And Honey-Lime Dressing is a quick, easy, and delicious meal—perfect for summer!
This corn salad with dates and honey-lime dressing is everything you want in a summer dish. It’s fresh, easy, and just the right mix of sweet, tangy, and delicious. Corn salads have been around for ages, especially in places like the Midwest, where corn is practically a lifestyle. And honestly, you can taste why. The natural sweetness of the corn, paired with something unexpected like dates, really makes this salad special.
Dates also have a long history in the kitchen and are actually one of the oldest cultivated fruits in the world. They have been a staple in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia for at least 7,000 years. Pairing dates with crisp corn, tender chicken, and a zesty lime dressing provides a mix of textures and flavors that make every bite interesting.
Is This Corn Salad With Dates and Honey-Lime Dressing Healthy?
This is one of those salads that can be an entire meal in one dish. It’s a nice mix of good-for-you whole, fresh ingredients that are nutritious and taste great together. Corn and dates contain fiber, which keeps you feeling full for longer, and the chicken and feta add a boost of protein. Avocado contributes healthy fats, and the honey-lime dressing adds a tangy flavor with minimal added sugars, allowing the sweet taste of the dates to come through. If you would like to make a vegetarian version, you could replace the chicken with chickpeas.
Dates Make All the Difference
I was surprised the first time I saw fresh dates in a store. Of course, I had to try one! I found it soft and moist, almost crisp, and way less sweet than the dried dates I usually snack on and use in cooking and baking. Dried dates are chewy, dense, and a little sticky and wrinkled. The process of drying dates concentrates their natural sugar, so the flavor becomes really sweet, almost syrupy. And it extends their shelf life, making it easier to keep them around for cooking. And, of course, for snacking!
You might be wondering why I would add dates to this salad. Besides being naturally sweet, dates have this amazing caramel-like texture that just works really well with everything else going on in the bowl. Their rich sweetness perfectly balances out the bright, tangy lime. Speaking of the honey-lime dressing, it’s incredibly simple, but it pulls everything together with a light, fresh kick that doesn’t overwhelm all the other flavors in this salad.
How To Make Ahead And Store
You can make this salad ahead of time, but keep the dressing separate until you’re ready to serve, so the lettuce stays nice and crisp. I also store the chicken separately so I can serve it warm. While you can keep this salad in the fridge for 1-2 days, it’s best if you eat it the same day you make it.
Serving Suggestions
This salad is designed to be a meal all on its own. But if you want to make it part of a bigger meal, you could omit the chicken and serve it with a light and lemony Grilled Cod or a simple Shrimp Ceviche.
For a light dinner, there’s no better appetizer than Prosciutto And Melon to introduce this salad, and you can top off your meal with a velvety Homemade Banana Cream Pie.
Recipe
Ingredients
Salad:
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 head of romaine lettuce
- 1/2 avocado roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup dates roughly chopped
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup fat-free or low-fat feta cheese
- 1/2 cup corn kernels
- Cilantro chopped
Honey-Lime Dressing:
- 1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard
- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- Juice of half a lime
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Cook your chicken however you prefer: Grill, bake, fry, etc. For this recipe, I baked it at 350°F for 25 minutes.
- In a food processor, combine the yellow mustard, honey, garlic powder, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, lime juice, and salt. Blend until all ingredients are well combined and set aside.
- Tear your lettuce into bite-size pieces and divide between two dishes.
- Evenly divide the chopped avocado, dates, red onion, feta cheese, and corn between each dish.
- Slice each chicken breast against the grain and place on top of each salad.
- Drizzle the honey-lime dressing over each dish and garnish with chopped cilantro.
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