Southwest Salad with Avocado Dressing

southwest salad topped with chicken, cheese and tortilla strips

Southwest Salad with Avocado Dressing

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This southwest salad is a delicious blend of our favorite Tex-Mex ingredients tossed in a creamy avocado dressing!

Course Lunch, Main, Salad

Cuisine Mexican, Tex-Mex

Diet Gluten Free

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Total Time 35

Servings salads

Calories 503

Author Kim

Ingredients

For the chicken (optional)

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or tenders
a generous sprinkling of each - chili powder, cumin, paprika, and salt & pepper

For the avocado dressing

1 medium avocado peeled and seed removed
juice of 1 1/2 limes
1/4 cup sour cream
1 to 3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 large or 2 small tomatillo(s) paper skin removed and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons avocado or olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

For the salad

4 to 6 cups (or more) romaine lettuce chopped
1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved
1 cup black beans rinsed and drained
1 cup corn rinsed and drained
1/3 cup red onion thinly sliced
1 cup diced jicama (highly recommend!)*
1/2 to 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
tortilla strips found in the salad dressing aisle of the grocery store or use crushed tortilla chips

Instructions

To make chicken (if using): Preheat oven to 450ºF. Season chicken and bake for 17-20 minutes, (or until 165 degrees internally). Once cooked, cover with foil for 10 minutes to seal in the juices. Then slice into strips or dice into cubes.
While the chicken is cooking, you can make the dressing and prep the salad ingredients.
To make the dressing: Add all dressing ingredients to a food processor and blend until the mixture becomes very smooth and creamy, and there are no longer chunks of garlic, cilantro, or tomatillo.
To assemble the salad: In a large salad serving bowl, toss the chopped romaine lettuce with tomatoes, black beans, corn, red onion, jicama, cheese, and sliced/diced chicken. Drizzle and toss with avocado dressing just before serving. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

*I typically buy pre-chopped or sliced jicama. It can be found in the produce department of most grocery stores.

**In my opinion, salad recipes are just a guide. Feel free to use as much or as little of the ingredients as you like.

***Nutritional information can vary quite a bit depending on the amount of dressing and other ingredients used. Chicken is calculated in the nutritional info.

Nutrition