Fiesta Salad with Salsa Vinaigrette
Serves: 6 as a side dish (double to serve as a main dish)
 
Ingredients
  • Vinaigrette:
  • ½ cup fresh pico de gallo (pulse it in the food processor if it’s too chunky)
  • 3 Tablespoons unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ - ¾ teaspoon sea salt or to taste
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 2-3 teaspoons raw honey
  • a couple pinches of chili powder
  • 2 ears of corn, shucked or 1 ½ cups thawed frozen fire-roasted corn or cooked pinto beans
  • 8 cups chopped lettuce like Romaine or Butter lettuce
  • 1 cup thinly sliced radishes
  • 1-2 ripe avocados, sliced or cubed
  • ⅓ cup pepitas, toasted and drizzled with ¼ teaspoon olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt OR sub a handful of tortilla strips instead of the pepitas
Instructions
  1. To make the vinaigrette, whisk all the dressing ingredients in a bowl until combined. Set aside.
  2. Preheat a grill to medium. Grill corn directly on the grill, turning occasionally until lightly charred on all sides. Remove from the grill and place on a cutting board. Cut the kernels off the cob.
  3. Place the lettuce, corn kernels, radishes, avocados and pepitas in a salad bowl. Dip a piece of lettuce into the dressing and taste for seasoning. Drizzle salad with enough dressing to coat lightly and combine gently.
Notes
You can substitute finely shredded cabbage for some of the lettuce, add shredded Jack cheese or crumbled Cotija cheese, shredded chicken, steak or chunks of grilled salmon or shrimp.  Also, different salsas have different acidity levels, so taste the dressing before adding to the salad and season accordingly.
Recipe by Pamela Salzman at https://pamelasalzman.com/fiesta-salad-salsa-vinaigrette-recipe/