Southwest Cornbread Salad

Salad from the top view
You may have noticed that I love Southwestern American food.  I love Mexican food, but I think I like the Tex Mex better.  It has a lot of spice and flavor and cheese.  The best way to do this, in my opinion, is salads.  They taste so fresh but have so much more flavor than your every day salad.

Last month, we had a potluck at work.  Potluck at my work is code for snacks and desserts, but usually no real food.  I had a recipe in my To-Do List Pinterest board, and decided it was perfect for a more substantial aspect of the potluck.  The recipe made way more salad than I anticipated, but it was no problem!  The recipe was a hit, and I even sent the bit of leftovers home with people because they loved it so much.

Here's the catch.  The recipe for the dressing wasn't very good, in my opinion.  Some people really liked it, but I wouldn't do it again.  I'll include it here because some people loved it.  For me, I would simply mix salsa in with regular ranch dressing.  You pick what works best for you.

Also, the original recipe called for including the dressing to the salad immediately.  I never do that because then it either has to be eaten right away or it wilts.  If you are planning on eating all or most of it at once, then I would suggest adding it to the layers.  If you're saving it or making it last over a few days, add the dressing to your individual plate.

Southwest Cornbread Salad
Side view of the layers

Adapted from here

Salad
1-6oz box of cornbread mix
1 head of lettuce
2 tomatoes, diced
1-15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1-15oz can corn kernals, drained
2 cup shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 green onions, chopped

Dressing
1 package Buttermilk Ranch seasoning
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayo
2 cups salsa

  1. Make cornbread according to directions on the box.  Allow to cool, then crumble.  To crumble, I dragged a fork over the pan until it was all broken up.
  2. Chop the head of lettuce.
  3. Start your layering with half the cornbread crumbles.  Top with half of the lettuce.  Sprinkle half of the black beans, corn kernels, tomatoes, bacon, cheese, and green onions.
  4. **If you are adding the dressing to the salad immediately, pour about half of the dressing over the first layer of salad here.
  5. Repeat the layer for a second time (cornbread, lettuce, black beans, corn, tomatoes, cheese, bacon, green onions, and another layer of dressing if you choose)


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