If you’re familiar with our cowboy caviar or cowboy pasta salad, you should be pretty excited to see this cowboy salad. Similar to the pasta variety (just without the noodles) this is a hearty salad that’s jam-packed with both nutrients and flavor. Yes, romaine lettuce is the base, but this isn’t one of those salads that’s mostly leafy greens with just a couple other add-ins; this is more like alllll the add-ins you can think of with just a handful of greens thrown in for good measure. Also, this is addictively delicious and you’ll want many, many bowls of it.
All right so in goes the lettuce, then it’s a matter of tossing in some corn, black beans, cherry tomatoes, cheddar cheese, avocado, red bell pepper, jalapeño, red onion and cilantro. So much flavor in there and all sorts of protein, healthy fats and nutrients! Whisk together a mayo, barbecue, mustard, Worcestershire, lime juice dressing and you’ve got yourself a full meal that will keep you full and feeling good. We look forward to this salad all week – and make sure we have leftovers to enjoy for the next couple days – and are so excited to share it with you.
If you want to lighten up the dressing a bit and stick with an Italian vinaigrette or lemon and olive oil version, you can do that, but we love all the combined flavor of the BBQ sauce, mustard and Worcestershire; the lime gives it some freshness and the mayo makes it nice and creamy…we think this dressing makes the whole dish extra tasty. Don’t resign yourself to a boring lunch or dinner – spruce things up and enjoy this zesty, stuffed-to-the-brim salad instead!
Cowboy Salad
INGREDIENTS
- Salad:
- 1-2 hearts of romaine lettuce, cut into strips
- 1 (15.25 oz.) can whole kernel corn, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15.25 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 avocado, diced, sprinkled with lime juice
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeño, seeds removed, minced
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- Dressing:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
- 1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
PREPARATION
- In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and lime juice together until smooth, then set aside.
- Place romaine strips in a large bowl, then top with corn, beans, tomatoes, cheese, avocado, bell pepper, jalapeño, red onion and cilantro.
- Pour on dressing and toss together to combine.
- Let rest 15-20 minutes before serving, giving flavors a chance to build. Enjoy!