Chopped Southwest Salad
Chopped Southwest Salad Recipe is a vegan version of a popular summer salad loaded with vegetables and black beans, all chopped into perfect bite-sized pieces with two oil-free dressing options to meet your individual tastes.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 292kcal
Ingredients
Air-Fried Tortillas Strips
- 2 flour or 4 corn tortillas
- 3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
Chopped Southwest Salad Ingredients
- 2 heads Romaine lettuce chopped
- 15 ounces black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 medium red onion diced
- 1 English cucumber diced
- 1 Red bell pepper diced
- 3 ears grilled corn on the cob or 1 ½ cups cooked frozen or canned corn, cooled
- 1 jalapeno diced small
- 1 pint tri-colored grape tomatoes , cut in half
Easy Southwest Dressing
- ¼ cup raw cashews soaked overnight and rinsed (if you have a quality high-speed blender, you can skip soaking)
- ½ cup fresh salsa of choice
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
- ½ cup water
Avocado Cilantro Dressing
- 1 large or 2 small avocados pit, and flesh removed
- ½ cup cilantro
- 1 lime juiced and zested
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Air-fried Tortilla Strips
- Cut flour or corn tortillas into thin strips
- Place tortilla strips in a bowl and pour lime juice into the bowl.
- Using your hands, todd tortilla strips in the lime juice until they are all covered.
- Then, sprinkle with seasonings and toss again.
- Place tortilla strips in the bottom of the air-frier
- Set temperature at 370 degrees
- Cook for 10 minutes; tossing at 5 minutes.
- Remove from the air-fryer pan.
- Let cool
- If you don't plan to use the air-fried tortilla strips right away, place them in a bowl and leave them out on the counter. Do not put them in a plastic bag; they will get soggy.
Chopped Southwest Salad
- Chop the Romaine lettuce and place in the base of a large bowl
- Drain and rinse black beans
- Chop all other vegetables in uniform size
- Chop jalapeno smaller, as it is stronger and needs to be more distributed
- Chop avocado right before serving to avoid browning
- Add all chopped vegetables to the bowl with lettuce.
Vegan Southwest Dressing
- Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender.
- Blend on high until smooth
- Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve
Avocado Cilantro Dressing
- Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender.
- Blend on high until smooth
- Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve
- OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS
Optional Ingredients
- Add grilled tofu or faux chicken strips if desired.
- Add vegan cheese of choice
Notes
- Romaine lettuce can be chopped ahead of time and kept in an air-tight bag for easy meal prep.
- Also, chop all the vegetables ahead of time using a vegetable chopper as a time-saving suggestion.
- Substitute pinto beans for black beans
- Make the dressing ahead of time so it has time to chill and thicken in the refrigerator.
- Do not cut the avocado and add it to the salad until right before serving, so it doesn't brown.
- This salad is great for a potluck, picnic, or BBQ.
- As an entree salad, add crispy tofu.
Nutrition
Calories: 292kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Sodium: 302mg | Potassium: 1328mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 19315IU | Vitamin C: 53mg | Calcium: 147mg | Iron: 5mg