Can corn salad be made ahead?
Yes, you can make this fresh corn salad with cilantro on the day before and keep it in the fridge for your next day lunch or dinner.
When stored in an airtight container in the fridge, this salad will even last for up to four days.
This dish will last long because vegetables don't spoil as quickly as animal products once prepared. Also, the antioxidants found in the lime juice dressing prevent the salad from browning too soon.
What to serve with corn salad?
This avocado and tomato corn salad makes an excellent filling for tacos and enchiladas as it's bursting with Mexican-inspired flavours.
We also tried it as a side dish to accompany grilled fish or beef, and it tastes great!
You can even make a meal out it by topping the salad with grilled chicken or beans, like pinto or black beans.
Why is corn salad healthy?
Prepared with sweet corn, avocado, tomato, and quinoa, this quick corn salad is incredibly healthy, and we recommend it as a side dish or main meal for everyone who is following a weight loss plan.
This salad provides a nutritionally balanced meal with 2 of your 5-a-day for fruit and vegetables. It's also a source of healthy unsaturated fats from avocado, proteins from quinoa, and fibres from corn.
Corn is regarded as both a starchy vegetable and a whole grain, thus offering the best of both worlds. You'll have plenty of fibres to keep you full and feed the gut-friendly bacteria. Moreover, you'll get all the precious nutrients found in whole grains, like vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants [1].
Sweet corn is high in vitamin A and health-promoting phytochemicals. Among these plant chemicals, lutein and zeaxanthin are potent antioxidants which are essential to support healthy vision.
Many studies have shown the incredible benefits of plant-based whole foods diets not only as an aid to weight loss but also as a way to improve your overall wellbeing. Therefore, we suggest you prepare a big batch of this corn salad always to have a healthy recipe at hand.
Can people with diabetes eat corn salad?
Although diabetic people can enjoy starchy foods as part of their daily diet, they still need to control their blood sugars. Therefore it's essential for them to monitor their carbohydrate intake and choose ingredients that have a low glycemic load (GL) or index (GI).
The sweet corn in this corn salad is a diabetes-friendly food as it has a medium GL and low GI, with a value of 15 and 52 respectively. Also, a 90g portion of sweet corn provides only 10g of carbohydrates.
The glycemic index ranks carbohydrates according to how fast they will cause a rise in blood sugars. The lower a food's glycemic index is, the slower blood sugar rises after eating that food [2].
However, the glycemic load is a more accurate predictor of blood sugars as it also takes into account the number of carbohydrates. It means it can tell how much glucose that food will deliver to your bloodstream according to its portion size and amount of carbs digested [3]. An ingredient can have a high GI but a low GL, like some fruits, and so still be considered healthy.
The tomatoes, avocados, and quinoa in this salad recipe are also suitable for diabetic people as they are low in carbs and don't spike blood sugar levels. Moreover, one serving of this corn salad has 40g of carbohydrates, which is one-fifth of the recommended 200g per day for diabetic diets [4].
By the way, did you know you can filter our recipes according to many nutritional values, include the amount carbohydrates per serving? Awesome! Be sure to check out our SmartSearch tool for filter option and many more.
