Seven Layer Salad with Creamy Salsa Vinaigrette

Serve well-seasoned, lightly olive-oiled mixed greens in a separate bowl, and let your peeps dig into the seven layer salad beauty like it’s an experience.

Because vegetables are beautiful. They’re beautiful to observe, they’re beautiful to serve, and they do a body good. And this bowl gets me all excited about the summer growing season, and all the rainbow vegetables that will come from the dirt in my yard.

Show-stopping seven layer salad is where it’s at. ..

Seven Layer Salad with Creamy Salsa Vinaigrette

The veggie amounts are based on a 96 ounce salad bowl (the bowl in the pictures). Scale up or down according to the size of your bowl.

Ingredients

for the dressing

• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt or coconut milk
• 1/2 cup your favorite mild or medium Salsa
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise or Earth Balance vegannaise
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 heaping tablespoon chopped green onions
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

for the salad

• 1 to 2 heads romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium red onion, sliced or chopped, your choice
• 1/2 cup green olives, sliced
• 3/4 cup corn kernels (thawed from frozen or fresh from the cob - no need to cook)
• 1 avocado, pit removed, peeled and chopped
• 1 orange bell pepper, chopped
• 3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered (about 2 cups after slicing)
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, dill, and/or basil, chopped

Instructions

make the dressing

1. Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth. Taste, and add more salt as needed. Set aside (refrigerate if making ahead).

assemble the salad

1. General note: if your bowl is wide, ring your ingredients against the glass and fill the center with romaine lettuce as you build the layers. This creates a nice balance of greens to veggies when you spoon down into the bowl.
2. In a medium glass salad bowl (about 90 ounces), spread a thin layer of romaine lettuce. Spoon black beans over the lettuce. Add red onions over the black beans, followed by a layer of olives, then corn, avocados, bell peppers, and top with cherry tomatoes.