Mexican Layered Salad

 

When the weather turns warm and when we start grilling on a regular basis, this salad calls my name. It’s a perfect side dish with a good piece of meat. BBQ chicken quarters are amazing with it, blackened shrimp is also fantastic, even a simple marinated chicken breast works too (I like a cilantro lime marinade). We sometimes eat it as an entrée because it’s got everything - beans for protein, some cheese, cornbread (yes, cornbread!), corn, veggies… a balanced meal! It’s one of those salads that doesn’t feel like your eating a salad. It’s sweet from the cornbread and the corn, a little tangy from the cilantro lime dressing… overall, a really refreshing dish. Not too heavy, and not too light.

It makes a lot, so I like to prepare it when we have guests over for grilling. We have everyone bring their own meat to throw on the grill and this as a side dish. It’s too easy!

My mom has been making this salad for a long time. It’s a recipe from Southern Living, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere online. I try to give credit where its due… but really, all we have is a print of the recipe in a binder! It originally called for iceberg lettuce, but I think romaine is much better. Sometimes I’ll even throw in some shredded cabbage - my kids oddly love cabbage. If I’m meal prepping this salad for the week (meaning it’s got to last all week because I’m eating it everyday for lunch), I’ll leave off the dressing and dress it as I eat it. That way it doesn’t get soggy.

To make this fit in with our family meals I’ll make two boxes of Jiffy. One for the recipe and one for the boys as cornbread muffins. Then I’ll serve the salad components deconstructed - the corn, peppers, black beans, shredded cheese… they’ll eat everything most of the time. Sometimes we even have this salad topped with chicken nuggets because who doesn’t love a nugget topped salad! I put the big layered salad on the table to pass around to see if anyone wants to try it (I’m trying not to pre-plate food, rather doing it family style). Baby Kate can even enjoy most of the things in here.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Yield: 8-10
Mexican Layered Salad

Mexican Layered Salad

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 50 Min
Win over hearts at your next backyard cookout with this salad layered with beans, corn, cheese, tomatoes, peppers, and the best part... cornbread. Serve it as a meal in itself or as a side with grilled chicken.

Ingredients

  • 1, 8.5-ounce box Jiffy corn muffin mix
  • 1, 4.5-ounce can chopped green chilis
  • 2 hearts of romaine lettuce, chopped
  • 1, 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1, 11-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained*
  • 1, 8-ounce package shredded cheese (cheddar or Mexican blend cheese is best)
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 3 green onions, chopped
  • 6 small plum tomatoes, chopped**
Dressing
  • 1/2 cup light mayonnaise***
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Spray an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray and set aside.
  3. Make the Jiffy according to the box directions (using 1 egg and 1/3 cup milk). Stir in the green chilis. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 16-20 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool. Once cooled, crumble it up.
  4. Meanwhile, chop all the ingredients and make the dressing by blending or processing the dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.
  5. Assemble the salad in a 4 quart bowl. Layer half of the romaine, half of the cornbread, 1/3 of the dressing and cheese, half the black beans and corn, green onions, tomatoes and peppers. Repeat the layers and top with the remaining dressing and cheese.
  6. Cover and chill 1-2 hours before serving.

Notes

*Frozen corn works just as well, just let it thaw

**I've also used a pint of cherry tomatoes, just quarter them

***I've used half Greek yogurt half mayonnaise and it basically tastes the same