SW Chopped Salad with Creamy Cilantro Dressing

I'm such a sucker for anything with a SW flair. I love me some cilantro, black beans, lime, corn... everything mixed together in this salad brings to mind a taco salad. Minus the fat and calories, and dial up the stuff that's actually good for you, of course. I make several varieties of taco salads, and I'm officially adding this one to the rotation. Not that I have much of a rotation. As the hubby puts it, he never gets bored with food :)

P.S. Add whatever protein you desire to make this a non-vegetarian salad.

So, as you may have guessed, the hubby and I actually wrapped up eating the salads on Tuesday. It took about 7 days to make and photograph the salads, between the nights I served them to working around daylight to capture them on film. Which means last night was our first non-salad night in a week. The hubby walked in the door from work, and was pleasantly surprised with a casserole. We like salads more than the normal person, but we were ready for something hearty. Maybe that's why last night's dinner was sooooo good...

In other news, I've been banned from exercising for 6 days. For that, I'm quite frankly annoyed. Do you remember that cold I had last month? Of course you do, I complained about it for days! Anyhoo, the cold has been long gone for quite some time, but I've been left with chest tightness that's been making me winded during workouts. I finally got in to my doctor yesterday who seems to think I've got some inflammation leftover that I keep exacerbating by working out. She put me on a steroid pack, and told me to sit tight for 6 days while they work their magic. She knew that didn't sit well with me, and when she left the room, she chuckled. She's previously told me she doesn't have very many patients that exercise. Humbug. I told the hubby when I got home that I was extremely grateful we are going out of town this weekend, because I don't think I could have stayed in the house and not exercised for 6 days. Talk about being driven crazy.

I guess I'll just have to catch up on my reading. I'm in the middle of Jodi Picoult's "Harvesting the Heart". It's good, but man, it'll make you a little teary. I've also got some photographs to take. Cookies to bake. Getting the house ready for us to leave for the weekend. Dinner to make.

It's safe to say I won't be sitting around with nothing to do :)

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

Creamy Cilantro Dressing-

1 cup fresh cilantro

1/2 cup greek yogurt, plain

2 tbsp lime juice

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

Salad-

1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped

1 (15 oz) can of black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups corn kernels (I used frozen, thawed)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. To prepare dressing- combine all ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until smooth and completely mixed. Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 4 days. Chill until ready to serve. 

2. To make salad- combine lettuce through green onions in a large salad bowl. Drizzle dressing to taste over salad. Toss to combine. Divide among plates, and serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from The Garden Grazer.

Linked to: Weekend Potluck