Southwestern Layered salad( Southern Living).....

Here is another recipe we tested on Saturday. This recipe comes from a Southern Living cookbook. I really enjoyed this salad, it was very fresh tasting and easy to put together. I liked it so much that I made it again last night. I prepped each component and kept it seperate so I could whip up a single serving of salad at the spur of a moment. I feel the dressing for this salad is what makes it special. Its not your typical creamy dressing that you'd normally find on this type of salad. The dressing consists of some pickled jalapenos, white wine vinegar, Olive oil and cilantro. Everthing gets pureed in the blender. Its very zippy from the higher proportion of vinegar to oil.

The first layer is just straight iceberg lettuce. I normally avoid iceberg, but it really works in this salad. The next layer is a mixture of black beans and red onion. The beans marinate for a couple hours in some vinegar and oil, then the red onion is added. The next layer is corn( frozen is fine) and green pepper. Then tomatoes( I skipped those for my home version). Then shredded jack. I used a sharp white cheddar at home. The final layer is diced avocado and cooked bacon. At work, we left the bacon on the side because a few of the tasters are vegetarian. I didnt make the bacon at home. I also added some crushed tortilla chips for crunch. When making the large bowl, the instructions have you save a few tbls of each layer to add to the top. I suppose this is to show everyone what is in the salad.

I searched and searched online for the recipe, but I couldnt find it. I just kinda winged it when I made it at home. If you want the recipe, I can borrow the cookbook from my boss, just let me know.