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Monday, May 10, 2010

Sothwestern Italian Fusion Salad with Jalapeno Corn Bread

I really like the flavors of Southwestern cuisine, but other than lime, jalepeno hot sauce and cumin, I really don't have a lot of pantry items that can be called Mexican or Southwestern. So, this salad came about because I was craving cornbread and because the avocados at the market are relatively cheap. I guess I'm Italian at heart so putting this together seems more Italian to me than anything else. Anyhow, the bottom line is that it tasted pretty good. I started building the salad by washing and drying some red leaf lettuce which formed the base of the dish. Then, I put together one diced Roma tomato, some canellini beans (yeah, I know -they were left over otherwise I'd have used black beans), a 3 inch piece of cucumber, diced, chopped onion, one diced jalapeno pepper, the juice of one lime, s&p, and olive oil. I arranged this mix over the top of the lettuce, sliced up the avocado, some cheddar cheese and a few baby heirloom tomatoes and placed them around, then added more olive oil and a few more drops of lime juice. If I had remembered, I'd have thrown in a few black olives.To go with this, I baked up my skillet corn bread the recipe for which may be obtained here.

Why another salad? For one, the wife loves avocado, so this is another way I slip greens (the lettuce) into her diet and the beans and cheese are for protein. The corn bread is a no- brainer. It's just plain good. Give it a try.

6 comments:

  1. Hey, your Italian is rubbing off on me and my love of all things Mexican/Southwestern must be sticking to you. Looks yummy!

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  2. Sounds like the perfect salad, in my opinion. Love the skillet cornbread too with those tasty jalapenos.

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  3. Thanks Bridgett. I hope you'll try making the corn bread, it really is good. And, yes Amy I think we may be rubbing off on each other. I'll worry about it if I come up with taco lasagne or something equally crazy.

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  4. I love main dish salads! Sounds great Joe!

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  5. I could quite happily eat this! I'm so glad you liked the yogurt dessert, Joe. It's always nice to get feedback. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  6. Hi Joe,

    Thanks for finding my blog. We lived in Astoria till last July and miss it like crazy! You've got some unique recipes here and I'm intrigued. Being an Italian chef, have you ever tried risotto in a pressure cooker? I've heard great things. I will follow and be back often!

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