Ranch Salad Dressing with Avocado and Cilantro on a Taco Salad with Carnitas (optional)
Description
This is an amazing dinner salad with a Mexican flair to it -- one of our favorites!
The cooking time is listed as 3 hours -- assuming you also include Carnitas on this salad; otherwise, there is no cooking.
At a Glance
Equipment
Beyond your standard culinary equipment in your kitchen, it will be important to have a Dutch Oven and a cast-iron pan to prepare this recipe, if you are serving this with Carnitas.
Ingredients
For the Ranch Salad Dressing with Avocado and Cilantro:
1 Avocado
1/3 cup of Cilantro, chopped
Juice of one Lime, freshly squeezed
½ cup of Mayonnaise
¼ cup of Mexican Crema
½ cup of Buttermilk
¼ cup of Chives, finely chopped
½ teaspoon of Salt
½ teaspoon of Black Pepper, freshly ground
½ teaspoon of White Pepper
¼ teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
1 tablespoon of Green Tabasco Sauce (optional to taste)
1 tablespoon of Green Cholula sauce (optional to taste)
For the Taco Salad:
2 cups of Romaine Lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup of Cherry Tomatoes, cut into quarters
½ cup of Red Onion, finely chopped
¼ cup of Black Olives, sliced
½ cup of Corn (frozen corn can be cooked with ½ tablespoon of Butter along with ½ tablespoon of Water, and then add ½ teaspoon of Black pepper and ¼ teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper)
1/3 cup of Cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup of Red Cabbage, chopped
½ cup of Radishes, sliced
½ cup of Carrots, shredded
½ cup of Cucumbers, sliced and then cut the slices into quarters
2 Green Onions, finely chopped
1 Avocado, sliced
1 cup of Tortilla Strips – Southwest flavor, which can be found in the produce section of the grocery store
Directions
To Prepare the Ranch Salad Dressing with Avocado and Cilantro:
In a bowl, add the mayonnaise, crema, buttermilk, salt, 3 peppers, and hot sauces, and whisk together. Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Use a spoon to remove the “meat” of the avocado and mash it down in a separate bowl until it is creamy. Add the avocado to the bowl with the other ingredients and whisk together along with the lime juice. Once the salad dressing is creamy, add the cilantro and chives and continue to whisk until all ingredients are fully integrated. Pour into a salad dressing container.
To Prepare the Taco Salad:
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
Serving Suggestion:
If you are serving this amazing salad for friends, we like to arrange all of the ingredients around a platter similar to how we have done it in the photo, serve it on the table, and then mix in a large salad bowl right before serving.
We also like to add Carnitas (to access this recipe, click here) to this amazing salad.
