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.
Prep Time15 minutes mins
Total Time15 minutes mins
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Mexican
Diet: Vegan
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 292kcal
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
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
- 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.
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