I don’t know about you, but for me, in the past, side salads have been a bit of an afterthought. Hi LIMP LETTUCE. 🤦🏼♀️ I have made it my mission to change that and remind myself that with a bit more imagination (but no more effort, thankfully), we can indeed serve a big bowl of deliciousness up for a vegetarian family meal or as part of a bigger meal when entertaining guests (I’m thinking fajita night or a barbecue for starters). For this easy salad recipe, we’re simply chopping the fresh peppers and red onion, adding tins of sweetcorn and black beans, plus a tub of salsa, then jalapeños to your own taste into a big bowl. Then mix together your dressing and pour over the salad just before serving. Crumble the feta and tortilla chips over the top. Done! You can also make this in advance for when friends are over. Always a win.
Why you’ll love this Mexican Salad recipe
⭐️ Packed with fresh flavour ⭐️ Budget-friendly and simple ⭐️ Impressive and colourful! I’ve used feta cheese here as it’s the closest I think I can get to ‘white cheese’ used in Mexican dishes. Did you know that if any kind of yellow cheese is used in a recipe it points to a Tex Mex cuisine rather than Mexican? You can read more about the differences here in an article on Spoon University which is super informative. All that said, this recipe is also similar in style to the Cowboy Caviar (recently doing the rounds on TikTok), which is Tex Mex cuisine. Cowboy Caviar (or Texas Caviar) originates from the 1940s when a New York chef, Helen Corbitt, visited Texas and made it as a tongue-in-cheek nod to real caviar!
Mexican Salad Ingredients Notes
Dressing – This is made up with natural yoghurt, honey, salt and lime juice. The recipe has 2 limes but if it’s looking runny enough with less, just use 1 Mint – You can use coriander if you prefer (which would be more authentic) but I think it’s the food of the devil, sorry Salsa – We’re using the fresh kind, from the fridge section, rather than long-life jars Black beans – Be sure to drain and rinse these before adding Jalapeños – The quantity for these are to your own taste
Simply do all of the chopping in advance, then cover the bowl well and refrigerate until it’s time to serve. At this point, add the dressing, tortilla chips and feta. If you think your kids won’t like any heat, just omit or add a very small amount. Similarly, load it up if you love the tingle! Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
