Southwestern Salad

A friend made this at a recent dinner, and I immediately asked for the recipe. It is delicious! I love the quesadilla explosion salad at Chilis, and this one reminds me of it, only without chicken and, actually, I kind of like it better. I think the dressing is delicious. I crave this salad!

I haven't done this, but you could also make some easy cheese quesadillas to go along with this, and even marinate some chicken in the dressing and grill it if you wanted to add even more to the salad.

Southwestern Layered Salad
source unknown

I N G R E D I E N T S :

for the dressing:

1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup lime juice (I didn't have quite enough juice-you probably need 4 limes to get enough)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper


for the salad:
1 (16-ounce) package of romaine lettuce, shredded ( I used one head romaine instead)
5 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 small red onion, finely chopped (I only used half of a red onion, and it seemed like plenty)
1 (8-ounce) package of shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend
1 (15-ounce) can whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained
1 (6-ounce) can sliced black olives, drained (I accidentally got chopped and it's almost like minced olives...it's fine but sliced would be better)
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
garnish-fresh cilantro leaves
*I think this is also delicious with chopped avocado

D I R E C T I O N S :

Layer lettuce and the next 7 ingredients. Garnish, if desired, and serve immediately with southwestern vinaigrette. If you are going to keep this salad on hand in the fridge for a few days, it is best to wait and add the chips, cheese, and dressing until each time just before serving so it does not get soggy.