Chopped Mexican Salad with Creamy Avocado Ranch
A beautiful side dish for any Mexican main course.
Servings 8 servings
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)
- ½ cup Cotija cheese, crumbled (Cotija is a Mexican cheese found at most grocery stores)
- ½ cup black beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 small roma tomatoes, diced
- ⅓ cup roasted salted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
Creamy Avocado Dressing:
- ½ cup of your favorite ranch dressing (see my suggestions in blog post above)
- 1 ripe avocado
- juice from one lime
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves removed from stems
Instructions
Salad prep:
- Prep bell pepper. Place olive oil in sauce pan on medium/high heat.
- 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.
- Add corn kernels and onions to pan and sauté, stirring frequently for 4 more minutes. If corn starts popping turn down heat to medium.
- While veggies cook, place chopped romaine on a platter or in a bowl. Prep beans, tomatoes and cheese, set aside.
- When bell pepper and corn are soft and slightly browned remove from heat and allow to cool. Make dressing.
Dressing prep:
- Place all dressing ingredients into a blender and blend till smooth. Pour over romaine and toss. You may not need all the dressing.
- Pour cooled corn mixture, beans, tomatoes, pepitas and Cotija cheese on top of salad. Enjoy!
Notes
If you'd like to add protein to make this a complete meal, add rotisserie chicken or my juicy cooktop chicken breasts!