I love a big salad for dinner in the summertime. Do you remember my Cilantro Lime Chicken that I shared the other week? Today I thought I’d share a delicious use for that chicken along with my super easy version of Avocado Ranch Dressing. You can use whatever you have on hand to top the salad. There are so many possibilities. You might notice that I have feta cheese in our list of ingredients. We love to add feta cheese, which is not generally a cheese you might think to put on a Southwestern flavored salad. If you like feta give it a try, it is delicious. There is a Mexican restaurant in Lawrence where our oldest is in school that uses it in all their dishes. That is where I got the idea to add it at home and we are hooked. Let me know if you give it a try! 
- 1½ cups of your favorite Ranch Dressing
- 1 Avocado, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- Cilantro Lime Marinated Chicken, find the recipe on our site here
- 8-10 cups chopped lettuce, we use a blend of romaine and iceberg
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1½ cups fresh corn or 1 can mexicorn
- red onion, diced
- grape tomatoes, sliced in half
- feta cheese (trust me, it is delicious)
- shredded cheddar cheese
- Doritos or Chili Fritos, crumbled
- Place the ranch dressing, diced avocado, lime juice, cilantro, chili powder, and cumin in a blender or food processor and combine. You can also put it in a bowl and use an immersion blender if you have one. Set aside.
- Line a serving platter with the mixture of lettuce. Top with desired toppings and drizzle with the dressing.
- I like to use a shallow serving bowl or a platter when I am serving a salad like this. If you toss it in a big bowl everything seems to sink to the bottom. This way, when you use your tongs to serve, just go straight down and you get a little of everything!
Check out the related posts down below for some other delicious salads.
Enjoy!
Kim
Linked to the following parties:
Buns In My Oven What’s Cookin’ Wednesday
The Chicken Chick Clever Chicks Blog Hop
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Making this for a New Year’s Eve get together. I am so excited to try this. Cilantro lime chicken is marinating as we speak. Just a quick question, maybe someone will answer my question, as I make the dressing, can I let it sit in the fridge over night, or should I make it prior to preparing the salad?
And feta cheese will most definitely be going in this salad
Hi Patrick,
I have honestly never made this dressing the day before. Let me know if you try it, I’d love to know how it goes. Happy New Year!