Continuing on the theme of the delicious southwest flavors, please let me introduce to you my new favorite salad. Oh, this salad. I could wax poetic about it’s lovely qualities.
But I won’t. Lucky for you.
My cousin Tami passed it along to me when I had declared the Great Bean Crusade in my home (a fight against the gagging and whining that occurs when beans are served at our dinner table).
The end result of this salad is incredible. Delicious, in fact. The salad ingredients are traditionally tasty and paired with the tangy, sweet dressing – it’s a knockout. My husband devoured it, and that’s fairly impressive since he’s not crazy about having salad for dinner. Never in a million years would I have expected the flavors of the dressing to be so melded and perfectly complete. This is definitely going to be a salad to grace our home and future potlucks for years to come.
Thanks, Tami. I owe you. Oh, and my kids even ate a bean or two. So actually, I owe you big time.
Note: this salad is so adaptable. I’ve added 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, subbed red onions for the green, doubled the dressing (just because!), and my favorite variation was made with a combination of wild and brown rice.
Ingredients
- 5 cups cooked rice, warm or at room temperature (white, brown, wild rice or a combination!)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-oz.) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
- 1 (12-oz.) can corn, drained
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 2/3 cup canola oil
- 4 pickled jalepeno pepper rounds (found in the glass jars next to the olives, usually)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
Directions
- Combine all of the salad ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Combine dressing ingredients in blender until peppers are finely minced. Toss with salad. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Source: from my cousin-in-law, Tami
OOooo yum !!I love all those flavors……will try this TOOOOOOOO !
Melanie- I am wondering if you ever make “extras” and freeze meals for later use. I am participating in a freezer meal swap and would be interested to hear what recipes you think freeze well. I know the honey lime chicken enchiladas freeze great…any other ideas?
This looks great. Did you serve it as a main dish or a side?
I’ve seen lots of dishes that combine beans/rice/corn/chicken, but I’ve never seen one with this type of dressing! It looks yummy, and I’m sure my husband would love it.
southwestern flavors are my favorite, hands down. lovely side, melanie!
Wow. I feel so famous being featured. This is really, truly, one of the best main course salads ever. Glad you liked it.
Oh dear – this stuff is so good. The dressing is the best part — the lime just works so well.
oh yummy! i love all the flavors that go into this!
Is this dish spicy? I don’t really care for jalepinos, due to the heat. Thanks.
Hi Kristy – I have a few other meals that freeze really well:
http://mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/2009/04/classic-baked-ziti.html
http://mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/2009/08/kalua-pork.html
http://mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-moms-fabulous-lasagna.html
http://mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/2009/02/sweet-and-sour-meatballs.html
If you can, email me at mykitchencafe @ gmail . com and I’ll send you some others.
camille – I served this as a main dish with a crusty roll. It was perfect and very filling.
I agree that this looks delicious. I may try half a batch for a few tasty lunches.
oh yum… i love all those ingredients and this sounds amazing!
Splendid Things – so glad that you liked the chocolate chip cake! I bet it would be wonderful with whipped cream.
Melanie – no, this dish is not spicy at all. The jalapenos don’t add heat just flavor.
This looks delicious! I have a recipe somewhat similar that incorporates some of the same ingredients as well as sour cream casserole style.
By the way, I made your chocolate chip cake today and everyone loved it. Next time I am going to serve it with seasoned whipped cream. Thanks for all the great recipes. My family is glad I found your blog!
Nalene – I’ve been waiting for someone to make this! I’m so glad you did and that you liked it. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
I made this for dinner last night and it was surprisingly delicious! Given the ingredient list, it WAS a little surprising to me honestly. We all loved it, my husband, 9 year old son, and toddler son. Very good! Will make again, for sure. Thanks for sharing!
-Nalene
OMG, this was yummy. I too was skeptical, but glad I gave it a chance. I can’t wait to make it for friends. Thanks, Melanie.
Melanie – thanks for giving this unusual salad a try. So glad you liked it!
Mel, I just made this and it made a TON for my little family. I was super excited to eat it for lunch leftovers, but when I warmed it up it was a little dry. No worries – I ate it with tortilla chips and some homemade guac and it was amazing again!
Camille – yes, this does make a ton. I’m glad it worked out ok as leftovers. I can’t wait to see what creations we come up with for Thanksgiving together!
i’m trying this tonight but adding some jalepeno jelly to the dressing as i’m out of peppers. thanks for all your great recipes!
Made this again tonight…you seriously cannot go wrong with this meal. Yay.
does this have tomatoes in it? i thought it looked like it in the pic but they aren’t listed in the recipe. i LOVe tomatoes and thought they might be good here if not originally included.
Hi Erica – the recipe list doesn’t include the tomatoes but every so often when I make this, I’ll throw in a can of drained, petite diced tomatoes. I probably took the picture when I made it with this variation. Feel free to add them – this salad is pretty adaptable!
LOVE your blog. I also love that you don’t use any “Cream of” soups…those are so full of crap and preservatives anyway. Hats off to you for sharing all these recipes!! thank you.
Thanks, Linda!
oh yeah, not to mention all the yummiest photos to go with it…. !!! You take some great food photos, I must say!
Made this last night and we loved it. So glad I finally got around to this one. It makes tons! I think it is just crying out for some fresh cilantro, so I will try that next time. I may even make it without the chicken for a filling meatless meal. But I love the flavor the dressing brings to it.
Thanks for another awesome recipe.
Thanks, Ann! Yes, this does make a ton of food and I think the idea of fresh cilantro is brilliant!
I made it last night and it is seriously good! Seriously…
Janae. Thank you! Seriously.
How many servings or how many people does this feed? It looks very yummy.
Dani – it probably serves around 6 for a main dish.
I made this last night and it was AMAZING! I didn’t know what to expect, but my entire family loved it, including my 4 year old daughter who hates beans. My husband put some of his in a tortilla with sour cream & hot sauce. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers tonight.
I had a bunch of limes laying around, and the fresh lime taste in this salad was perfect. Thank you!
Allison – so glad this salad was a hit! It’s a bit different from your everyday salad so I’m glad you loved the result and I think your husband is on to something with the “stuffing inside a tortilla” thing. Thanks!
Hi Melanie,
Another wonderful recipe! We are trying the beef stroganoff in the slow cooker tonight – smells yummy already.
Thanks, Valerie – I hope you like the beef stroganoff also!
Mel,
We loved the stroganoff and the vegetarian lasagna! Yum
Thanks, Valerie!
Well, once again you’ve made me look less like an amateur and more like a chef! This stuff is absolutely amazing! I added big chunks of avocado and tiny cherry tomatoes sliced in half along with fresh, seeded jalapenos and it is KILLER. I woke up this morning excited that I get to eat it again. Thanks again!
This recipe is SOOOO delicious!!! I made this for my husband and myself, so you can imagine we had a lot of leftovers, which was GREAT. I took it to work a few times for lunch, and so did my husband. Mine never got dry, even when reheating it. I had this recipe for a while and I am kicking myself for not making this earlier. This is a great and easy recipe that I will definitely be making over and over!!!
I loved this recipe! We threw it in a warm tortilla with some lettuce and it was delicious. So glad we have lots of leftovers! Thanks for another great recipe!
This dressing was the best find! I wanted something that would go well with taco meat, corn, cheese and in my taco salad. With sour cream and cheese in the same bite it is the perfect creamy and flavorful compliment to the taco meat. I hope to make this into a southwest salad for the family dinner.
I just had to comment…made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing! Used wild rice, fresh corn, and red onion but otherwise followed recipe exactly. The dressing totally made the salad. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, definitely a keeper and it will reappear frequently!
I really love the flavor of this salad. Now I will say that maybe it was something I did wrong but it was just too much rice (I used white rice) which caused it to be a little on the dry side. I think the next time I make this I will only use 3 cups of rice. I think this would be excellent with uncle ben’s wild rice too!
[...] adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe) Share this:SharePrintEmailPinterestStumbleUponTwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like [...]
[...] from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe Published: October 25, 2012 Filed Under: Chicken, Dinner, Healthy, Rice, So.. it's 5pm [...]
I’m going to try this with avocado instead of chicken. I bet it could be a lovely vegetarian dish. Have you ever tried using xantham gum or guar gum mixed with water to replace the oil in dressing? It is an amazing way to cut calories and fat!
This dressing is heaven! I whipped this up yesterday, only with breaded chicken strips since I had no grilled chicken, and everyone raved about it. Anything with beans (2 cans!), rice,, and corn makes me happy, but pulling it together with that dressing is sensational!
I’d like to make this for an upcoming family gathering. Since we’ll be traveling about an hour to reach our destination, I’m wondering if this salad would do better tossed with the dressing when I arrive or if it would be better to let the dressing mix with the rice ahead of time? Any suggestions? Thanks!
I have made this several times over the past year or so and use one can black beans drained and one can chili beans, not drained. It adds a little bit more flavor. Just an idea. We love this salad plain as a main dish or wrapped up in a tortilla
Tiff – this salad should be fine tossed with the dressing for a couple hours in advance. It will give everything a chance to soak up the yumminess!
Thank you!
I made this tonight – WOW! What a nice recipe! I think I might make some extra dressing next time – and maybe even add in a bit of grated carrot? I eat mostly vegetarian meals while the rest of my family are meat-eaters, and I love how flexible this recipe turned out to be. The rest of the family added chicken to their tortillas and I added a bit of sharp cheddar cheese to mine. Wonderful!
Made this without the chicken (vegetarian) and absolutely adore it. The flavor is addictive and the combo is protein packed. Thanks!