Southwest Salad with Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing

I feel a little bit weird, just a little bit, for posting a salad recipe.  For one, because I usually just make salads with whatever produce I happen to have on hand in my house.  And two, because I feel like I might be perpetuating the seemingly irrefutable stereotype that vegans live off of salads.  

When I first started out on my vegan journey, I had friends tell me that they could never do it because they can’t just live off salads.  Right, because I do? Not so much… I’ve also had friends ask me, under the assumption that vegans do, in fact, only eat rabbit food, if I ever get full?  No.. Never… How could one feel full after eating pizza, a burrito and french fries or a chocolate cake? Yes, there are vegan versions of all those things.  It’s somewhat funny that with all the elective diets out there, some that are so restricting, being vegan is just so taboo, with all the assumptions that it’s an unhealthy and unattainable lifestyle.  There is a very real misconception about what being vegan means.  

Anyways, back to my salads.  I do love and sometimes crave a good salad.  And, sometimes, there is nothing more satisfying than a cold, refreshing, crisp salad.  So, here is a recipe for just that—a crisp and refreshing salad, topped with a light and creamy citrus dressing. 

Serves 2

Ingredients: 

• 6 cups of Spring Mix lettuce
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1/3 red onion 
• 1/2 tomato
• 1 avocado
• 1/2 crushed tortilla chips
• 2 tablespoons Vegenaise
• 1 tablespoon of freshly chopped cilantro
• Juice of one lime
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• Salt 
• Pepper

Directions:

1. Prepare dressing by combining Vegenaise, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  (Alternatively, you can finely chop the cilantro and garlic and combine with all other ingredients in a mason jar and shake vigorously until combined.)  Refrigerate dressing until ready to use so it is nice and cold when you're ready for it.  
2. Wash and dry the lettuce and divide amongst two bowls.  
3. Chop bell peppers (stems and seeds removed), onion, tomato and avocado into uniform dices.  Arrange diced vegetables over the lettuce.  Sprinkle the crushed tortilla chips over the salads and finish by drizzling each salad with dressing.