Southwestern Chopped Salad
With so much great produce still coming out of the garden or at the farmer’s market, I seem to be staying on my chopped salad kick.
Today I prepared Southwestern Chopped Salad recipe. The secret of the deliciousness is in the dressing Ranch dressing or your dressing of choice can also be used. It will still be fresh and healthy.
Topping with Tortilla Strips
I topped my Southwestern Chopped Salad with Santa Fe Style Tortilla Strips that I bought at Aldi. I hope they’re not just a passing thing for Aldi and they will continue to carry them. These tortilla strips add just the perfect finish to this salad. A pieces of nacho-flavored tortilla chips would work, too. The flavor would be good, but they wouldn’t but nearly as colorful or fun. And if you’re just looking for crunch, any tortilla chip will do the trick.
Chopped salads are fun to make. Pull out your pizza cutter and roll the pizza cutter back and forth over the lettuce. I use a large metal mixing bowl to do this, but it works on a large cutting board, too. Kids love to help with this task. Remember that having a hand in preparing the salad will make them much more likely to taste the salad when it’s finished even if you’re not using Ranch dressing.
Southwestern Chopped Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 romaine heart, chopped , about 1 ½ cups
- ½ iceberg lettuce head, chopped, about 1 ½ cups
- 1 large orange or red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- 5 green onions, white and green parts, chopped
- ½ small red onion, chopped fine
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- ½ cups corn, fresh, frozen (thawed) or canned corn, rinsed and drained
- ½ avocado, chopped
- Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- a few tortilla chips, crumbled (optional)
Dressing
- ¾-1 cup loosely packed cilantro, stems removed, roughly chopped
- ½ avocado
- ½ jalapeno, with or without seeds—depends on your heat tolerance
- Juice from 1 lime (add zest from lime for added flavor)
- 1-2 garlic cloves, minced, to taste
- ¾-1 cup low fat buttermilk
- 1-2 teaspoons rice or cider vinegar, more to taste
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt, more to taste
Instructions
Dressing
- COMBINE all ingredients in a blender or food processor and PUREE until mixture is smooth.
- TASTE and ADJUST seasonings if necessary.
Salad
- Finely CHOP romaine, bell pepper, tomatoes, green onions and red onion.
- PLACE all ingredients in a large bowl. MIX and then ADD dressing. TOSS to combine.
- TOP with freshly grated Parm and some crumbled tortilla chips for added crunch.
