Southwestern Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

Recipe: Southwestern Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

I usually have the radio on when I am at home. We have a local station, WYEP-FM, which plays a great mix of non-commercial tunes and unless the DJ gets into a country, bluegrass, or folk* frame of mind, there is where the dial is set. For some reason, though, when it is this hot and sticky outside and inside, I tend to turn off the radio. I prefer to listen to the birds, I guess. Or the slow slapping of my sandals as I try to glide through the hot rooms, using as little energy as possible.

*- By the way, there is nothing wrong with those musical genres, they are just not what I enjoy.

Anyway...

Lunch on one of these hot days during this past week was salad. Jack’s least favorite meal type, but I couldn’t even bear to turn on the grill.

I had a lot of “ones” in the refrigerator; one heart of romaine, one avocado, one orange bell pepper, one small cucumber, one ear of corn which had been cooked and was leftover. I also found a half can of black beans, a small piece of cotija cheese, and 2 small tomatoes. Result: a southwestern salad that even Jack liked. Probably because of the cheese, and also because I sprinkled his favorite Trader Joe’s nut/seed mix on top (pepitas, sunflower seeds, slivered almonds). For the salad, I only chopped half of the avocado because I used the other half for a salad dressing which complimented the other flavors perfectly (if I do say so myself). I have posted this dressing recipe before and it is here.

Served with baked tortilla chips, Jack never once uttered "salad for lunch???".

No recipe for the salad itself, though-- just be creative and use what's available!