Southwest Salad with Cilantro Honey Lime Dressing

LOVE this salad. Sheri made it for Stephen's mission farewell.  A few days later, I made it again. Then I ate it three days in a row for lunch. No meat or chips, just veggies and cheese. Could not get enough of the dressing.  Fresh, tart, sweet, a little spice.  It's life changing.
Ok, so it may not really be life changing, but it's a change from the usual cilantro-lime dressing.  The honey gives it a sweet twist that hooked me from the first bite.
Try it, I know you'll love it too.

P.S.
Come back Friday, I'm having a giveaway. If you have Jimmer Fever, you'll love this one.






Southwest Salad with Cilantro Honey Lime Dressing
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Salad:
1 1/2 large heads Romain lettuce, washed and dried
1 can Mexican Corn, drained well, or 1/2 of a small bag of frozen corn (un-thawed)
1 can black beans, washed and drained
2 avocados, chopped (not too soft) choose avocados that are fairly firm
1 bunch green onions, sliced
4-5 Roma tomatoes, chopped, or about 3 cups of cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 red pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cup Pepper Jack Cheese, grated
1 1/2 cups Colby cheese, grated

Dressing:
1 cup cilantro, rinsed, remove stems
1 cup mayonnaise
4-6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
lime zest from one lime
2 tablespoons honey
sea salt
pepper
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne


For Salad:
Chop lettuce into bite size pieces. Place lettuce in large serving bowl.
If not using immediately, layer in the following order:
Lettuce
black beans
corn
peppers
green onion
avocado
tomatoes
grated cheeses

For Dressing:
Chop cilantro. Whisk together in bowl rest of ingredients, add fresh cilantro. Add more lime, honey or cayenne to taste.

Toss salad with dressing just before serving, or serve dressing on the side of salad. If serving on side, double dressing.

Tips:
-Use Romaine full heads, not Romaine hearts (Costco) You will be happier with the dark green color.
-Important to drain veggies well and spin salad until dry. If you take the time to do this, the salad will last for up to three days if not tossed with dressing.
-Layering in the order given will insure that the cheese won't get soggy, and the avocados will stay fresh(er) with the tomatoes layered on top.  Romas, or grape tomatoes are best for this salad.
-I like the look when hand chopping  part of the Cilantro for the salad. You can throw all of the ingredients into a blender or use an immersion blender to make the dressing, then chop a few tablespoons by hand to get the larger leaf look in the dressing.
-If you want more of a Taco-style salad, add some chopped chicken and chips.

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