Honey Chipotle Chickpea Elote Bowls
These Honey Chipotle Chickpea Elote Bowls are a spicy, protein-packed spin on the traditional lime juice, chili powder, and cotija cheese cream sauce slathered Mexican street corn. These bowls pair buttery, tender cilantro lime couscous with spicy honey chipotle chickpea elote salad and a lightened up elote cream sauce.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Honey Chipotle Chickpea Elote
- 1 14.5 oz can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, pat-dried
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 poblano pepper, diced
- ½ red onion, diced
- 2 c sweet corn (fresh or frozen)
- 2 chipotles in adobo
- 2 Tbsp adobo sauce (from can)
- 1 Tbsp honey
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ⅛ tsp cracked black pepper
- ¼ c cotija cheese (if desired)
Cilantro Lime Couscous
- 2 c couscous, dry
- 3 c water
- 1 lime, juiced
- ¼ c cilantro, chopped
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ⅛ tsp cracked black pepper
Elote Sauce
- 2 Tbsp light or reduced-fat mayo (Hellmann's Light)
- 2 Tbsp plain yogurt (regular or Greek)
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 tsp honey
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp cumin
- pinch sea salt and pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the elote sauce first. Combine mayo, yogurt, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the bowls are ready.
- Combine 2 cups of uncooked couscous and 3 cups of water in a medium sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook about 8 to 10 minutes, or until the water is absorbed and the couscous is tender. Remove from heat. Mix in the lime juice, cilantro, sea salt, and black pepper. Cover and set aside.
- While the couscous cooks, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the drained chickpeas and poblano pepper. Leave the pepper-chickpea mixture in an even layer for 3 to 4 minutes, until the chickpeas begin to form light brown crispy spots. Mix the chickpea mixture and let sit another 2 to 3 minutes to crisp in more spots. Repeat until the majority of the chickpeas are lightly browned and the peppers form dark spots (this will take about 10 minutes total).
- While the chickpeas brown, finely dice the chipotle peppers. Add the chipotle peppers to a small bowl, along with adobo sauce, honey, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Whisk to combine.
- Add the red onion and corn to the frying pan. Add the honey chipotle sauce and stir to coat the chickpea-pepper mixture. Cook another 2 to 3 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Divide the couscous evenly among the four bowls. Top with a generous portion of chickpea-corn mixture. Dollop elote sauce on top of bowls and sprinkle with cotija cheese, if desired. Serve and enjoy.