Southwestern Chopped Salad with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

Hi all! Long time no see. Blogging has fallen by the wayside. Ironically, I have more fitness related material to chat about than ever before but this parentoftwokids thing is kicking.my.butt. I've been trying to be more present and decided to cut back on blogging to stay more present with the kids and off of the computer. Not to mention, by the time I have a moment to sit down to the computer to type up a post, I'd rather be sleeping! Anyway, I always return since I love it so much and it's such a great creative outlet...I've been bottling up so many amazing things I want to share! Now that Declan is 4 months old (I can't even believe it) things are finally starting to feel like they are settling down into a more predictable routine. I'm hoping to be able to blog a time or two a week but we'll see how it goes!

For now, I wanted to share a simple salad I whipped up earlier this week. It was delicious and majorly curbed the temptation to go out for Mexican food...better for the wallet and the waistline! As I've probably mentioned before, we really struggle with meal prep in this household. Thankfully, I think we always eat generally healthy and clean but we often end up grabbing something pre-made a few times a month due to poor planning. While the choices are generally healthy as well, it gets costly and obviously is typically less healthy than if we'd prepared our own meal. On top of craving Mexican the other night, we're dealing with the hot, steamy, dog days of Florida summer so trying to satisfy the craving in the form of a nice fresh salad seemed like a good challenge. I took out the blender and whipped up a very simple vinaigrette utilizing plain greek yogurt. My parents are visiting and the whole table agreed it was delicious and satisfying. Here's how to prepare it:

Southwestern Chopped Salad with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

On a large platter, arrange the following:
2 bags of lettuce (I used romaine and spring mix)
2 cups Mexican shredded cheese
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
3-4 diced scallions
1 can organic low sodium black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can organic sweet corn kernels (drained and rinsed)
2 avocados sliced
2 bags of pre sliced southwestern style grilled chicken strips (I used Perdue shortcuts) warmed through

To make the vinaigrette you'll need:
1 bunch cilantro (stems removed, approximately 1 cup)
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon diced garlic
Juice of two limes
Pinch of salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Store extra in a mason jar for a few days.

This salad served 4 dinner portions with 2 servings for leftovers.

My parents are visiting and I thought it would be fun to present this colorful salad at the table and then offer salad tongs so people could serve themselves and pick and choose the toppings they'd like. Of course, you can construct the components of this salad in whatever way you prefer to serve it. I served the dressing on the side in a pretty gravy boat. In fact, this salad looked so pretty and was so tasty that it would be a great dish to serve when entertaining. I'm thinking this might be a hit at a future friends tex-mex themed dinner night!

Comment here and share you favorite clean, fresh, simple salads with me!