New! Cream cheese, sweet chili sauce and coriander dip with smashed potatoes view recipe

Blistered shishito, corn and avocado salad

A popular snack or appetizer, shishito peppers also make an intriguing salad ingredient. Here, they are blistered and tossed with smoky charred corn, creamy avocado and a zesty cumin-lime dressing.

Jump to Recipe

A bowl of roasted corn topped with sliced avocado and cooked green peppers, served on a marble surface.

They say one in ten shishitos will pack a punch. I am constantly seeking the surprise. The punch seems to happen less than I desire.

Its name comes from the Japanese word for lion, shishi, a reference to the signature folded crease at the pepper’s tip that resembles a lion’s head. A fierce depiction for a vegetable that is mild, thin-skinned, and easy to love.

Shishitos cook quickly and are very open to enthusiastic seasoning.

Blistered shishito, corn and avocado salad

Serves

Ingredients

extra virgin olive oil
225 g shishito peppers, trimmed and cut into 1-inch (2.5cm) pieces
sea salt and black pepper
225 g corn kernels (from 2 cobs)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 ripe avocado, cut into large dice
40 g toasted pumpkin seeds

Cumin-lime dressing

1 garlic clove, grated
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Instructions

Make the dressing: In a large bowl, add the garlic, lime, cumin, olive oil, salt and sugar. Whisk to combine. Taste to check seasonings. Set aside.
Heat a large frying pan (skillet) on medium high. When hot, drizzle with 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil, add the shishito peppers, season with salt and pepper, and cook, tossing often, until the peppers are charred in some parts, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the dressing.
To the same pan, with the heat still on medium high, drizzle with another 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the corn, smoked paprika, and season with salt and pepper. Toss until the cook is sweet and slightly charred, about 2 minutes. Transfer the corn to the same bowl as the shishito peppers.
Add the avocado, half the coriander (cilantro) and the dressing and toss to combine.
To serve, top with remaining coriander and the pumpkin seeds.