LOVE this Southwest Salad with Cilantro Honey Lime Dressing. Sheri made it for Stephen’s mission farewell. A few days later, I made it again. Then I ate it three days in a row for lunch. No meat or chips, just veggies and cheese. Could not get enough of the dressing. Fresh, tart, sweet, a little spice. It’s life changing.Ok, so it may not really be life changing, but it’s a change from the usual cilantro-lime dressing. The honey gives it a sweet twist that hooked me from the first bite.
Try it, I know you’ll love it too.
Southwest Salad with Cilantro Honey Lime Dressing
Ingredients
Salad:
- 1 1/2 large heads Romain lettuce washed and dried
- 1 can Mexican Corn drained well, or 1/2 of a small bag of frozen corn (un-thawed)
- 1 can black beans washed and drained
- 2 avocados chopped (not too soft) choose avocados that are fairly firm
- 1 bunch green onions sliced
- 4-5 Roma tomatoes chopped, or about 3 cups of cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 red pepper chopped
- 1 1/2 cup Pepper Jack Cheese grated
- 1 1/2 cups Colby cheese grated
Dressing:
- 1 cup cilantro rinsed, remove stems
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 4-6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- lime zest from one lime
- 2 tablespoons honey
- sea salt
- pepper
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
For Salad:
- Chop lettuce into bite size pieces. Place lettuce in large serving bowl.
If not using immediately, layer in the following order:
- Lettuce
- black beans
- corn
- peppers
- green onion
- avocado
- tomatoes
- grated cheeses
Instructions
-
For Dressing: Chop cilantro. Whisk together in bowl rest of ingredients, add fresh cilantro. Add more lime, honey or cayenne to taste.
-
Toss salad with dressing just before serving, or serve dressing on the side of salad. If serving on side, double dressing.
Recipe Notes
-Use Romaine full heads, not Romaine hearts (Costco) You will be happier with the dark green color.-Important to drain veggies well and spin salad until dry. If you take the timeto do this, the salad will last for up to three days if not tossed with dressing.-Layering in the order given will insure that the cheese won't get soggy, and the avocados will stay fresh(er) with the tomatoes layered on top. Romas, or grape tomatoes are best for this salad.-I like the look when hand chopping part of the Cilantro for the salad. You can throw all of the ingredients into a blender or use an immersion blender to make the dressing, then chop a few tablespoons by hand to get the larger leaf look in the dressing.-If you want more of a Taco-style salad, add some chopped chicken and chips.
Landon says
Bascially I am IN LOVE with this salad. Loved it at the farewell, loved it a few days after the farewell. It was absolutely delicious!!!
Lis says
Did you mean to tell us about your class after it was over?
Si says
Landon- glad you LVOE this too!
Lisa, thanks for catching that…it's corrected now, class on March 11th!
Si says
Actually Landon, that was LOVE. 🙂
FootPrints says
WOW….i truly believe you when say life changing! looks delicious!
Busy as a Bee in Paris says
your photography skills are tops! and that salad doesn't look to shabby either!
Christina says
This looks so good, I've been craving a salad lately and now I have a new one to make. Thanks
Bonnie says
Beautiful photos. I love Southwest salad. I am going to have to try this one. I haven't had time to cook much lately but this looks do-able.