I remember the first time Ryan and I made this salad. We were living in Kirksville, MO where we attended college. He came to the house I lived in and we danced around each other in that tiny kitchen, chopping and mixing and finally sitting on benches at the two-person table, shoveling forkfuls of the salad into our mouths and falling in love with this dish! Since then, we’ve made the salad several times and talk about making it much more often than we actually do. It’s hearty enough that it can serve as a main dish with maybe some chips and guacamole on the side (my favorite!), but I chose to serve it alongside enchiladas and rice at book club. As I imagined, the ladies loved this salad and I had many requests for the recipe. This salad is bursting with flavor and color; try it, you won’t be disappointed!

*I have no idea where this recipe comes from…I had it written on a wrinkled piece of loose leaf paper…I know my mom got it somewhere and I copied it down

Mexican Salad

Ingredients:

2-3 heads of romaine lettuce, chopped into small pieces

1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained

2 medium tomatoes, seeded & chopped

¾ cup chopped jicama (I sometimes omit)

1 ½ cups corn

¾ cup chopped radish (I sometimes omit)

1 medium red pepper, chopped

½ cup reduced fat feta cheese (I just eyeball it)

1 avocado, peeled and chopped

Honey Lime Dressing:

¼ cup lime juice

¼ cup olive oil

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 clove garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & minced

Directions:

1. Mix all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate until just before serving.

2. Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Toss to combine.

3. Add dressing and toss just before serving.