Southwestern meals are always a big hit in our home. Sometimes we’ll plan our meals for the week, only to realize that everything we have to prep involves avocado or cilantro in some way. We just can’t get enough of these flavors!

Southwestern Fiesta Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

Ingredients

For the salad

• 1/2 pound ground turkey thigh and 1/2 pound of ground turkey breast (can also use one pound of either or)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 head of Bibb lettuce
• 2 ears of corn
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes
• 2 red peppers, roasted
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 avocado
• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Shredded cheese of choice

For the dressing

• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil (EVOO would also be fine)
• Juice from 3 limes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

For the salad

1. Mix the two turkey meats together in a bowl
2. Add the extra virgin olive oil to a skillet over medium heat, and then sauté the onion until translucent. Add the garlic, and let cook for one minute.
3. Add the turkey and all the seasonings to the pan, and cook until the turkey is brown.
4. While turkey is cooking, thinly slice the lettuce and set aside.
5. Roast the peppers, then let them sit for seven minutes before peeling and chopping.
6. Grill the corn for two minutes on each side on a very hot grill. If you get char marks, it will add extra flavor and color!
7. Cut the grape tomatoes in half.
8. Slice the avocado.
9. Put the lettuce in a bowl, then mix everything else together, including the black beans. Plate over the lettuce, and sprinkle with shredded cheese if desired.

For the dressing

1. In a medium bowl, whisk all dressing ingredients except for the yogurt.
2. Once fully combined, add yogurt.
3. Add to salads for extra flavor, and enjoy!

In this recipe, you could easily replace all those seasonings with a taco packet, but we prefer to season ourselves to control sodium levels. Plus, we always feel more comfortable knowing what’s going into our food. You could also choose to buy the roasted red peppers in a jar, but I always think the jarred version is pretty oily so we do the roasting ourselves too.

The dressing is the hit of this meal! The combination of cilantro and lime is to die for, unless you are one of those weird people who was born with the “cilantro tastes like soap” gene. If that’s you, I feel sorry for you.

This is a good choice for a healthy lunch or dinner. Hope you like it!

–Let’s chat–
What’s a tried and true flavor in your household? Anyone else obsessed with southwestern?

For more F&F southwestern recipes, try:

• Five layer Mexican bean dip
• Southwestern stuffed acorn squash
• Very colorful quinoa salad