Southwest Salad comes with a warning, it’s highly addictive. The first time I ate this salad, I took leftovers home from a family party and ate it several days in a row. My sister in law, Sheri, gave me the recipe years ago, and it’s been a favorite in our home since.
You won’t find any meat or chips in this salad, just veggies and cheese. And dressing. Which is quite possibly the best dressing ever. 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. It will hook you too, I promise!
- lettuce
- black beans
- corn
- peppers
- green onion
- avocado
- tomatoes
- grated cheese
Then mix up the dressing by whisking all of the ingredients (except cilantro) together in a bowl. Then add the chopped cilantro. Taste to see if you need to add any more honey, lime, or cayenne. Keep in a container until you’re ready to serve! Toss all ingredients together just before eating/serving. If Im making this early in the day, I layer using the instructions above. If I need to make it the day beforehand, Place the lettuce in a bowl, but place all of the rest of ingredients in separate containers or Ziplocks. Wait to peel and cut the avocado until right before serving.
This southwest salad is one of my very favorite recipes. I love it’s gorgeous color and delicious flavors. I hope you enjoy it too!
Southwest Salad with Cilantro Honey Lime Dressing
Southwest Salad is the perfect salad for any occasion. Filled with lettuce, black beans, cheese, veggies and topped with a fresh cilantro honey lime dressing.
Ingredients
Salad:
- 1 1/2 large heads Romain lettuce (about 15-18 cups) washed and dried
- 1 small bag frozen corn white or yellow, or fresh, 3-4 large cooked and cut off cob
- 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 time to 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 cooked chicken and tortilla or corn chips.
- If you want to make this a main dish salad, cook chicken breast halves, cool and chop when completely cooled. Add to salad with veggies.
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Thanks for all your amazing recipes. I trust everything you make!!! Where do you get fig balsamic?
Marianne,
In the Salt Lake area, Harmons carries fig balsamic. You can also order it on Amazon. This salad is so yummy! Emjoy!
Thanks for reading ABK.
xo,
Si