Mexican Chopped Salad
The freshest, healthiest, most wonderful salad. It's loaded with fabulous Southwestern flavor.
Dovetailing tip: When making this chopped salad, cut up tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients to prepare the Marinated Tomato Salad for Meal 5. This will give it overnight to marinate and be so delicious.
Ingredients:
| ingredients for the dressing: | |
| 1/4 cup | fresh lime juice |
| 2 tablespoons | honey |
| 1/2 teaspoon | cumin |
| 1 clove | garlic, finely minced |
| 1/2 teaspoon | salt |
| 4 tablespoons | extra virgin olive oil |
| freshly ground black pepper | |
| taste and add salt if needed | |
| ingredients for the tortilla strips: | |
| 6 | 6-inch corn tortillas |
| 1 1/2 tablespoons | vegetable oil |
| 1/2 teaspoon | sea salt |
| ingredients for the salad: | |
| 1 | medium head romaine lettuce , chopped in approximately 1/2 inch pieces |
| 1 | medium bell pepper, diced in 1/4-inch pieces**, i used small orange-hued peppers (the mini ones). feel free to use whichever color you want. |
| 1/2 | medium red onion, diced in 1/4-inch pieces** |
| 1/2 | medium jicama, peeled and diced in 1/4-inch pieces** |
| 1 | medium zucchini, diced in 1/4-inch dice** |
| 4 | medium tomatoes, seeded and diced into 1/4-inch dice** |
| 4 ears | corn (if fresh corn is not in season, substitute 1 1/2 cups of sweet, tiny frozen corn) |
| 1 1/2 cups | canned black beans, drained and rinsed |
| 1/2 cup | finely chopped cilantro, plus whole cilantro leaves for garnish, if desired |
Directions:
For the dressing, combine lime juice, honey, cumin garlic and salt. Stir to combine. In a slow, steady stream, add the oil, stirring continuously with a fork or small whisk. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Set aside.
For the corn tortilla strips, preheat oven to 400?F. Stack corn tortillas on a cutting board. Cut in half. Cut each stack of halves into thin strips, crosswise, about 1/4 inch thick.
Transfer tortilla strips to a sheet pan. Drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt and toss to coat.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, or until light golden brown and crisp. Set aside to cool.
For the salad, place corn, two ears at a time, in the microwave and cook for 3 1/2 minutes. Remove from microwave with a hot pad and allow to cool for 5 minutes. After cooling, cut bottom end of corn off, about 1 1/2 inches from end. Pull back husk and silks (almost all of the silk should easily pull away). Cut kernels from husks and set aside.
Combine corn and other salad ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Add dressing and stir to coat all ingredients. Garnish with cilantro leaves, if desired.
Serve with tortilla strips on top or place a bowl on the side and let guests help themselves.
Source: thecafesucrefarine.com
