Southwestern Salad with Avocado Dressing

Southwestern salad with avocado dressing is loaded with veggies and full of flavor. It’s a great summer meal that doesn’t involve turning on the stove!

I love all of the flavors in this salad so much. And I want to put the dressing on everything. It’s just so good. You can also add some rotisserie chicken if you want. Or serve it with grilled chicken, but it really does stand alone as a full meal.

This is a great dish for a picnic. Just take the dressing with you in a mason jar or whatever container and add it right before you are ready to eat.

You’ll need:

• 1 head chopped romaine lettuce
• About a cup of canned, frozen or fresh corn
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 c cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/3 c pepitas
• 1/4 c chopped red onion
• 1 c monterey jack cheese, grated
• crunchy tortilla strips (in the salad topping section)

For the dressing:

• 1 small avocado, peeled and sliced
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 small jalapeno, chopped
• 1/4 c sour cream or greek yogurt
• 1/4 c fresh cilantro
• 1/2 t sugar
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/4 c milk
• juice of one lime
• 1/4 t each of salt and cumin
• 1/8 t each of black pepper and smoked paprika
• 1/4 c salsa

Put all the dressing ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth, scraping the sides down as needed. If it seems too thick, add just a tiny bit more milk until you get a salad dressing consistency. Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.

Chop onion and red pepper. Rinse black beans. Cut tomatoes in half.

Place all the salad ingredients in a large serving bowl and drizzle with as much salad dressing as you’d like. Top with grilled or rotisserie chicken if you want to add some meat. Finally, top with the crunchy tortilla strips. I like to serve this with some Italian bread as well.

It’s a perfect summer no cook meal!

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Southwestern Salad with Avocado Dressing

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Ingredients

• 1 head chopped romaine lettuce
• About a cup of canned, frozen or fresh corn
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 c cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/3 c pepitas
• 1/4 c chopped red onion
• crunchy tortilla strips (in the salad topping section)
• For the dressing:
• 1 small avocado, peeled and sliced
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 small jalapeno, chopped
• 1/4 c sour cream or greek yogurt
• 1/4 c fresh cilantro
• 1/2 t sugar
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/4 c milk
• juice of one lime
• 1/4 t each of salt and cumin
• 1/8 t each of black pepper and smoked paprika
• 1/4 c salsa

Instructions

1

Put all the dressing ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth, scraping the sides down as needed.

2

If it seems too thick, add just a tiny bit more milk until you get a salad dressing consistency.

3

Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.

4

Chop onion and red pepper.

5

Rinse black beans.

6

Cut tomatoes in half.

7

Place all the salad ingredients in a large serving bowl and drizzle with as much salad dressing as you'd like.

8

Top with grilled or rotisserie chicken if you want to add some meat.

9

Finally, top with the crunchy tortilla strips.

10

I like to serve this with some Italian bread as well.