Saturday, June 20, 2009

Mexican Chopped Salad with Agave Lime Dressing

Mexican Chopped Salad // The Parsley Thief
My friend, Rhoby, recently hosted a potluck dinner with some of our friends, and our kids. She was planning on making a tortilla pie and I was assigned the task of bringing a tossed salad. I wanted to go with the Mexican food theme, so this chopped salad was what I brought. I doubled the recipe for this particular occasion, but you could easily halve, or quarter the recipe for a smaller crowd. Everything was delicious. I requested that she make her tortilla pie for me as a guest blogger because it was so good!
Corn & Black Beans
To make the salad, begin by removing the kernels from 3-4 ears of corn. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of corn when finished. Next, rinse and thoroughly drain one 15 ounce can of black beans.
Chopped Veggies
Dice 1 1/2 cups of jicama, thinly slice one bunch of radishes {1 1/2 cups}, chop one sweet bell pepper {I used yellow}, and chop one large tomato. Then, chop 6 cups of romaine lettuce. Place the lettuce in a large salad bowl, and add in all of the previous ingredients.
Dressing
Next, make the dressing. Add 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice to a mixing bowl. Along with 1/2 cup olive oil, 3 tablespoons agave nectar {you could use honey as well}, a 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro, one clove of minced garlic, and one minced jalapeño pepper {ribs and seeds removed for less heat}. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Whisk the dressing until emulsified, and set aside until ready to use.
Toss Salad
When you're ready to serve the salad, toss with the dressing. Throw in a 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese and one chopped, ripe avocado.
Tortilla Pie
This is Rhoby's fabulous tortilla pie...
Mexican Chopped Salad // The Parsley Thief
and here's the whole delicious spread! Enjoy!

Mexican Chopped Salad with Agave Lime Dressing

{printable recipe}
Yields: 8 servings
Adapted from Self magazine, July 2003

ingredients:
6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 large tomato, chopped
1 1/2 cup peeled & chopped jicama
1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced
1 sweet bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons agave nectar
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded & minced
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 ripe avocado, diced
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

method:
Add the lettuce, corn, beans, tomato, jicama, radishes, and bell pepper to a large salad bowl. Gently toss to combine.

To a separate, small bowl, add the lime juice, olive oil, agave, cilantro, garlic, and jalapeño pepper. Whisk until emulsified, season with salt and pepper, and set aside until ready to use.

When ready to serve, toss the salad with the dressing. Top the salad with the feta cheese and avocado, and serve!

6 comments:

Susanna Carrillo said...

That looks SO yummy. I just went to Valencia Luncheria in Norwalk today for the first time. Have you ever been? I felt like I was on vacation. Great music. The food was delish. Everett loved it too!

katie said...

We eat there quite a bit! I love that place.
My kids love it too!

Toothfairy said...

Looks very very yummy! and the ribs as well btw... yum yum!
love food... :P

momma "mia" said...

Katie
Thia looks delicious! Any chance we could also get the tortilla pie recipe?

Kim said...

Wow what beautiful food!

katie said...

momma mia...is that you, maria?
i am hoping to get my friend to do a guest post one day of the tortilla pie.
it's her original recipe, so i have no idea how she did it.

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