How long does the avocado dressing keep?

The dressing will keep for 2-3 days before it starts to brown.

Can you omit the avocado in the dressing?

It will be a little less thick and creamy, but could work! You could also sub in this Jalapeño Ranch instead for an avocado-free dressing.

Can you use frozen corn instead of canned?

Yes! I’d just warm it in the microwave or sauté/char it on the stove before adding to the salad.

Can you make the dressing dairy-free?

Skip the yogurt in the dressing and increase the lime juice by just a bit for more zing, or use a plant-based yogurt instead. If you want to replace the creaminess without yogurt, you could also sub in some mayonnaise.

What meat could be added to this salad?

Grilled chicken would be amazing! But if you have an air fryer, I’d highly recommend this chicken recipe .

Spicy Southwestern Salad with Avocado Dressing Recipe

Description

This healthy Spicy Southwestern Salad recipe has roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, corn, lettuce, and creamy avocado dressing!

Ingredients

Scale

For the Salad

2 sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon oil
1 heaping teaspoon each cumin and chili powder (plus a sprinkle of cayenne if you like it hot)
salt and pepper to taste
1 14-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14-ounce can sweet corn, rinsed and drained
1 romaine heart, chopped

For the Cilantro Dressing:

half an avocado
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup water
1 cup cilantro leaves and stems
1 small clove of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
a squeeze of lime juice

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop into bite-sized pieces. Mix the olive oil, cumin, and chili powder together in a small bowl. Brush mixture on sweet potatoes. Roast for 10 minutes. Stir or shake the pan. Turn heat up to 425, and roast for another 10-15 minutes. Check, stir, and bake until the sweet potatoes are just barely roasty-brown on the outside. Season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, pulse all the dressing ingredients in a food processor until mostly smooth.
Toss the beans, corn, lettuce, and sweet potatoes with the dressing. Serve with chips and/or the other half of the avocado for extra yum!

Notes

This recipe can be made vegan by swapping the Greek yogurt with a non-dairy yogurt alternative – even just a little hunk of tofu would work, or maybe the whole avocado instead of half. But don’t use oil – the oil and avocado don’t really blend together well (I speak from experience).

HERE ARE THE SPICY CHIPS. They are really spicy and really good. This is an affiliate link to order a box of them on Amazon.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Category: Dinner
Cuisine: Tex Mex

Keywords: southwestern salad, avocado dressing, spicy southwestern salad