Sweet & Spicy Southwestern Salad with Cilantro Dressing

Oh, hi blog!

Yeah, it's been several busy months with a lot of not-so-good eating. And no "forced" veggie consumption, 'cause we don't have the CSA every week. But I made a tasty salad tonight I wanted to remember for future meals...didn't even think to take a picture beforehand. It was kind of southwestern-ish with spicy black beans, sweet potato, corn, tomatoes, mango, green onions, spinach, peppers, avocado and a homemade cilantro dressing.

This made about 2 giant servings with about a cup of dressing. Went a little something like:

Cilantro Dressing:
- Whisk together a small container plain nonfat greek yogurt, a couple tablespoons olive oil, some vinegar & lime juice, salt, pepper and a small bunch of finely chopped cilantro. Thin with water if needed. A recipe I found said to make this in the blender; I didn't want to dirty mine!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes:
- Heat oven to 400. Cube 1 medium-size sweet potato, toss with a bit of olive oil, salt & chili powder (I like Penzey's Chili 9000). Roast on baking sheet until browned & tender, 15-20 mins if you cut it pretty small. Remove to a bowl.

Sauteed Corn:
- If your corn is tasty & fresh, you could also just cut it off the cob raw. Husk 3 ears of corn & slice off kernels. Heat a skillet over high heat, add a few drops of olive oil & some cumin seeds. Add corn & saute for a minute or two. I think I added some chili powder to this, too. Add to bowl with sweet potatoes.

Spicy Black Beans:
- Saute 1 clove minced garlic in a small bit of olive oil. Add 1 can black beans, rinsed & drained. Season with chili powder and add hot sauce to taste (I like plenty of Cholula Chili Lime). Stir a few times & set aside off heat.

Other stuff (add to bowl with sweet potatoes & corn):
- handful cherry tomatoes, halved (from our garden; yay!)
- diced bell pepper
- 3 green onions, chopped
- diced mango (GENIUS - I had Trader Joe's frozen mango chunks. Dice these up, throw 'em in the bowl, they thaw immediately)

Build the salad over a small bed of baby spinach: half of the black beans, half of the veggie mixture, half a cubed avocado. Crush a small handful of tortilla chips over the top and drizzle with dressing.

Sounds a little bit involved but it was SO GOOD and pretty healthy!