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Chopped Mexican Salad with Creamy Avocado Ranch

A beautiful side dish for any Mexican main course.

Course Salad
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword dairy-free recipe, easy lunch recipe, light recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Author Linda Spiker

Ingredients

Salad:

  • 1-2 Tablespoons olive or avocado oil
  • 1 large orange bell pepper, diced
  • kernels shaved from two ears of corn
  • 5 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped (approx 6 cups)
  • 1/2 cup Cotija cheese, crumbled (Cotija is a Mexican cheese found at most grocery stores)
  • 1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 small roma tomatoes, diced
  • 1/3 cup roasted salted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

Creamy Avocado Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup of your favorite ranch dressing (see my suggestions in blog post above)
  • 1 ripe avocado
  • juice from one lime
  • 1/4 cup cilantro leaves removed from stems

Instructions

Salad prep:

  1. Prep bell pepper. Place olive oil in sauce pan on medium/high heat.

  2. Add diced bell pepper to pan. Sauté for five minutes. While peppers cook, shave the kernels off corn cobs with a sharp knife. (The easiest way to do this is in a bowl) Slice green onions.

  3. Add corn kernels and onions to pan and sauté, stirring frequently for 4 more minutes. If corn starts popping turn down heat to medium.

  4. While veggies cook, place chopped romaine on a platter or in a bowl. Prep beans, tomatoes and cheese, set aside.

  5. When bell pepper and corn are soft and slightly browned remove from heat and allow to cool. Make dressing.

Dressing prep:

  1. Place all dressing ingredients into a blender and blend till smooth. Pour over romaine and toss. You may not need all the dressing.

  2. Pour cooled corn mixture, beans, tomatoes, pepitas and Citija cheese on top of salad. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

If you'd like to add protein to make this a complete meal, add rotisserie chicken or my juicy cooktop chicken breasts!