Mexican Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

You need some of this amazing salad in your life! Bookmark this and share it with friends and family at your next cookout. Or just keep it all for yourself...you might want to after you taste it.

I found this recipe at Noble Pig. I've tried quite a few recipes from this mouth-watering blog about food and wine, and so far this is my favorite. I was all set to make this today. I thought that it would make the perfect soup and salad combo with the leftover 7 Can Taco Soup from yesterday's dinner. Then on Sunday, some friends invited us to a cookout. Since I already had the ingredients ready, I decided that this salad would be my contribution to the cookout. It was definitely a hit! Everyone had seconds and one or two people might have even gotten thirds (I'm not naming any names.)

I began by making the dressing.

You can make this in your food processor or blender or if you've got an immersion blender like my Cuisinart CSB-76 Smart Stick Hand Blender then you can use that and cut down on dishes! I gathered the dressing ingredients: avocado, fresh lemon juice, mayonnaise, olive oil, hot sauce, garlic, and salt.

I combined them in my blender cup and took my immersion blender for a spin.

This makes a really thick, creamy dressing that clings to the salad ingredients beautifully.

Next, I assembled the salad. I started with 3-4 hearts of romaine, because they were on sale this week at ALDI. Then I sliced some tomatoes and tossed them in.

Next, I tossed in the chips and cheese. I had about a cup of generic brand Fritos left in a bag in the pantry, so I used them up and added in a cup of crushed tortilla chips too. I added a little over half a cup of Mexican blend shredded cheese over the top.

Then came some sliced green onion and a can of black beans, drained and rinsed. You can really make this salad your own, adding in sliced black olives and jalapenos or whatever you like. I tossed the ingredients together and then...

Poured on the dressing. I used my big purple bowl for this recipe for no other reason except that it has a well-fitted lid. I put the lid on a gave this a serious shake to coat all of the salad ingredients with the dressing. If you don't have a lid for your bowl, no biggie...just toss it really well as the dressing is thick and you want to taste it on every bite of the salad...it is SO good!

Now you're ready to serve. Man, this is a fabulous salad! I'm definitely making it again.

• Mexican Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing adapted from Noble Pig who adapted it from Dice With Spice
• For the dressing:
• 1 large avocado
• 1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1/4 extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust seasonings. Cover and refrigerate. Toss salad with dressing right before serving.
• For the salad:
• 1-1/2 to 2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped
• 2-3 large tomatoes or 6-7 small tomatoes
• 2 cups corn chips, crushed into pieces
• 1/2 cup Mexican blend cheese, shredded
• 15 ounce black beans, drained and rinsed
• 5 green onions, chopped

Combine all ingredients in a big serving bowl and toss well with dressing. Serve immediately.