A great no-cook meal that's as easy as draining some cans of stuff and putting things in a bowl. You can handle this. (Serves 4-6 as a main course -- for one serving, reduce lettuce to 1 head and take about one-third of everything else.)
Ingredients
Two or three heads of romaine lettuce
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 can of corn kernels, drained (or if you're feeling fancy, roast a cob of corn, cool it and cut it off the cob for beautiful, charred corn)
1 red pepper -- seeded, de-stemmed and chopped
1/2 red onion -- peeled and chopped
1 can black beans
1/2 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
1 avocado -- seeded, peeled and diced
Chili lime seasoning
1/2 fresh lime
Cilantro dressing (make it easy - buy a bottle of it, or use Green Goddess dressing)
Preparation
- Rinse, dry and chop your lettuce. Put in a large serving bowl.
- Rinse and cut the tomatoes in half. Place in a separate bowl. Stir in the drained (or cooled/cut) corn, red pepper and red onion.
- Rinse and drain the black beans. While draining and dripping dry in a strainer, sprinkle with chili lime seasoning and stir to mix. Sit for at least 10 minutes.
Serving
Assemble the salad immediately before serving. Add the tomato-corn-pepper-onion mixture to the lettuce bowl. Add the black beans. Sprinkle in the cheese. Pour dressing over salad and mix thoroughly. As the last step, seed and cut the avocado and add to the top of the salad. Squeeze the half lime over the salad to squirt juice on the avocado, then toss lightly.
A Little Backstory
I needed something easy, cold and low-key to serve at my annual pool party, and this is a definite crowd pleaser. And so easy to tailor for your guests. A vegan among you? Leave off the cheese. Everyone loves gluten? Add some crushed tortilla chips. Need a heartier meal? How about shredded chicken. You can throw all the ingredients in separate bowls or Zip-loc bags, making it hella easy to transport and assemble at a potluck, BBQ or poolside.
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