Southwest Salad with Creamy Avocado Salsa Dressing
Try this Southwest Salad with Creamy Avocado Salsa Dressing recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Southwest Salad with Creamy Avocado Salsa Dressing recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1 (15 oz.) can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 clove garlic peeled
- 1 head romaine lettuce chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- southwest salad
- fresh corn kernels from 1 ear of sweet corn
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half
- 1/3 cup roasted and salted pepitas (may sub. sunflower see
- 1/2 cup grated pepper jack cheese or more to taste
- tortilla strips for salads (i like fresh gourmet s
- creamy avocado salsa dressing
- 1 small avocado peeled and sliced
- 1 small jalapeno seeded deveined and roughly chopped (optional)
- 1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro
- 1/4 cup sour cream (may sub.plain greek yogurt)
- 1/4 cup smooth salsa (medium for more of a kick)
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar*
- juice from 1 lime
- 1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
- hot sauce to taste (optional)
- Carbohydrate 6.10753718921757 g
- Cholesterol 10.7900000008454 mg
- Fat 5.17658604509479 g
- Fiber 2.68390366029026 g
- Protein 4.60284922703502 g
- Saturated Fat 2.48747158142086 g
- Serving Size 1 1 -8 (155g)
- Sodium 72.8014770333056 mg
- Sugar 3.42363352892731 g
- Trans Fat 0.379161169382626 g
- Calories 84 calories
Step-by-step
- Add all of the Creamy Avocado Salad Dressing ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth, scraping the sides down as needed. Add hot sauce and additional salt and pepper to taste. Add additional milk to thin to desired consistency if needed. Chilli in the refrigerator, time permitting.
- Add salad ingredients to a large bowl except for the tortilla strips and toss to combine.
- Toss salad with desired amount of dressing (there will probably be some left over) or drizzle dressing over individual servings if not eating all of the salad immediately.
- Garnish salad with tortilla strips and freshly cracked salt and pepper.
Avocado anchors the emulsified dressing, providing both body and rich fat without requiring excessive oil. A high-speed blender is essential here to thoroughly puree the avocado, cilantro, and jalapeño into a uniform liquid. If the blades stall on the thick mixture, stop the motor and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula before pulsing again. Thin the resulting dressing with drops of milk until it coats the back of a spoon cleanly. Rinsing canned black beans under cold water removes the canning liquid's starchy film, preventing it from muddying the flavors of the fresh vegetables. Roasting raw pepitas at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for eight minutes yields a deeper, nutier crunch if roasted and salted varieties are unavailable. Dress only the portion of romaine lettuce intended for immediate consumption, because salted dressing draws moisture from the leaves and wilts crisp greens within twenty minutes. Store leftover dressing in an airtight container pressed directly against the surface with plastic wrap to prevent enzymatic browning for up to twenty-four hours. Pair this vibrant green bowl with grilled flank steak or blackened shrimp to balance the acidity of the lime juice.
