Cowboy Salad
By Emily Buys of Clever Housewife
The summer months may have come and gone, but the heat is still here for many of us. We're here to help you keep the house cool and your meal light with this easy Cowboy Salad. This isn't your typical Cowboy Salad because we've lightened it up a bit and made it completely vegan and potentially organic.
I used to think I was incapable of making a truly good salad at home. I thought restaurants had the monopoly on yummy salads and that I had to eat out to indulge in one. False! The key to a delicious salad is 1 - the toppings and 2 - the dressing. It's so easy to throw a beautiful and scrumptious salad together at home and I'll teach you how.
If you're worried about salad making being time-consuming, I have a little trick to help you out. This trick will also help you use all of your ingredients and not waste excess. Spend just one day a week doing salad meal prep. Chop your fresh veggies and keep them in a plastic bag or storage container. If using any canned fruits or veggies, open them and dump them into a storage container as well.
As you go throughout your week, pull out each of your topping containers and grab what you need to make that day's salad. You can even rotate through your toppings throughout the week or use them all each day, but the prep is done. Toss with a different dressing each time for some variety if you wish.
While there are some good store-bought dressings out there, you can't really beat homemade dressing. Homemade dressings are considerably less expensive and you can tweak each of the ingredients for the perfect taste to go with your custom salad. This Cowboy Salad has a particularly unique dressing that makes it so good. Combined with vegan mayonnaise, the barbecue sauce in this dressing is what'll make you say Yee-Haw!
Start your salad with a leafy green base - I opt for spinach when I'm wanting some extra nutrients. Then add each of the Cowboy Salad toppings and drizzle with homemade BBQ Mayo dressing.
Cowboy Salad
Serves 2
Ingredients:
4-5 cups spinach
1/3 cup black beans, rinsed
1/4 cup corn (canned, frozen or fresh from the cob)
1/4 cup grape tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 gypsy pepper, sliced and seeded
1/2 avocado, chopped
2 Tbs cilantro
salt and pepper, to taste
Dressing:
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 Tbs lime juice
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp yellow mustard
Instructions:
Whisk together dressing ingredients until smooth. You can also mix it in food processor, if desired.
Layer salad toppings on top of spinach, or toss together. Top with dressing.
The great thing about Cowboy Salad and really any homemade salad is how much you can customize it to your tastes. There are no rules or measurements that really matter so add what you like! If you want to add shredded vegan cheese, go for it! Try the dressing as-is but then it's okay to experiment and add a little more of one thing or a little less of another, to get a taste you really like. Have fun!
