Here is a recipe for a salad with our favorite Mexican flavors. What makes it so? Ingredients like corn, peppers, tomatoes, onions, avocado, and black beans along with cucumbers, carrots, lettuce and a creamy cilantro dressing give this hearty salad all the fabulous South of the border flavors. Add in pickled jalapenos for extra pizzaz!

The occassion

This outstanding salad was part of our NYE dinner menu. Shraddha had prepped all the veggies and had it ready to assemble at the party. With so many veggies, plus beans, cheese and avocado this salad could easily have been a main course! I had seconds and even had a third helping! A variety of veggies, cheese, beans, tortilla chips, and the delicious dressing really amp up the flavor in this salad.

Here’s a trick that never occurred to me – to mix two dressings together! Shraddha had combined Cilantro dressing with creamy Italian dressing to create a deliciously tangy dressing with a cilantro herby flavor. It was so good!

For a hearty Mexican salad that’s perfect for lunch or a filling dinner give this one a try!

Mexican Salad
recipe contributed by Shraddha

Ingredients:

1 bag iceberg lettuce or chopped romaine – about 4 cups
1 cup shredded carrots
1 avocado cut into slices
1 cup corn
4 small peppers sliced
5 cherry tomatoes cut in halves
1 cup canned back beans drained and rinsed
1 Persian cucumber cut into chunks
Green onions or red onion thinly sliced – as much as you want
Totilla chips for crunch – as much as you want
Shredded cheese – any variety you like
Dressing: Cilantro dressing and Creamy Italian dressing. We buy ours from Trader Joe’s.

Assemble:

In a large bowl place the beans and avocado at the base. Then layer all the veggies on top. Save until ready to serve. At the same time combine 5 tbsp of both dressings in a small bowl. Set aside.

Right before serving add desired amount of dressing and toss the salad. Garnish with cheese and tortilla chips. Serve right away.