Vegan Southwest Salad w/ Cilantro Lime Dressing

Celebrate the steamy days of summer with my easy Vegan Southwest Salad made with roasted sweet potatoes and drenched in a tangy avocado cilantro lime dressing. Fresh, in season-vegetables compliment each other beautifully in this vegan southwest salad recipe as each ingredient is ornately placed on a bed of lazy romaine. Makes for a drool-worthy vegan lunch or dinner.

Hello hot, hungry friends! I don’t know where most of you live, but I feel I’m in the hottest place on earth right now. Summer is definitely upon us and there’s nothing like a fresh vegan salad to welcome the season with open arms.

Because I know you like easy recipes, put away your measuring cups ladies and gentlemen, because this fabulous vegan recipe requires minimal measuring, if any at all. And it is fabulous, even though I do say so myself (and I do)!

Crispy fresh vegetables coupled with roasted sweet potatoes and white corn make this southwest black bean salad perfect for any occasion. If you have a grill you can skip the oven all together and toss everything on the grill. Easy peasy! May I have seconds now?

Summer is the perfect time to start eating lighter and healthier. You’re definitely going to start seeing more healthy recipes when you visit Vegan Vigilante. If you have suggestions for other healthy recipes you’d like to see, be sure to leave a comment below or shoot me an email at info@veganvigilanteblog.com. I’d love to hear your suggestions!

Ingredient Substitutions

As you can see from the image above, the ingredients for this southwest corn salad are available at your local farmer’s market or grocery store. Absolutely no specialty ingredients are required!

If you’d like to substitute, by all means, make my day and leave a comment below to let us know what you did differently. A couple substitutions I can think of include:

• Instead of canned black beans, making your own allows you to control the sodium content. Don’t want to make your own? I get it! Be sure to purchase low sodium or sodium-free black beans from your local supermarket.
• No grape tomatoes, no worries! Use cherry tomatoes or the tomato of your choice.
• If you don’t want to use corn on the cob, 1/2 cup of frozen left out to defrost will do just fine.
• Out of red onions? Try scallions instead, including the dark green ends!
• Any oil is fine, it doesn’t have to be olive oil. If you do use olive oil, cold pressed is best!
• Don’t have romaine lettuce? No problem, child! Use whatever you have but avoid kale as it is very bitter and does not work with this recipe (I learned this the hard way as you can see in the salad there are little bits of kale that I completely removed while eating it.
• Fresh garnishes are always best, but dried parsley, thyme or even oregano would be suitable substitutes for fresh greens.
• Lime is a MUST in this recipe, so try not to substitute this.

How to Make a Southwest Vegan Salad

So hungry friends, I have laid out the steps for you above, but here they are in print if you learn better by reading:

1. Chop a medium raw sweet potato into cubes. Place on lined baking sheet along with an ear of corn. Drizzle both with olive oil evenly coating each side and season with sea salt and black pepper. Roast on 425 degrees Fahrenheit/218 Celsius for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Now is the time to start preparing the vegetables.
2. Coarsely chop your greens.
3. Slice red onion.
4. Cut grape tomatoes in half
5. Slice a lime into wedges.
6. Using a knife, cut sweet corn from cob.
7. Rinse and drain black beans.
8. Prepare avocado last by slicing into thin layers. Squirt some lime juice on avocado slices and sprinkle with sea salt to keep from turning brown.

The final assembly should look something like the image below. Start with lining your bowl with large lettuce leaves to create height, then place torn lettuce leaves on top as a first layer. Next, top lettuce with veggies in whatever pattern you choose. To finish, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, and top with a drizzle on dressing, a sprinkle of pepitas a few more cilantro leaves. Serve immediately.

Tips for Making this Sweet Potato Salad

For best results, eat immediately after preparation.

• Because salads are prone to wilting in the refrigerator, especially with the addition of salad dressing, store to eat later with dressing in a separate container.
• Looking for a fun alternative? Add some sliced tortilla chips right before serving. REMEMBER: serve right away as these will get soggy if mixed with dressing for too long.
• And remember: fresh lettuce leaves and cilantro are best! Maximize freshness by filling your sink with ice cold water and allowing both to soak while preparing the rest of the salad.
• To keep the avocado from turning brown, squirt some lime juice on top and sprinkle with sea salt.

More Vegan Salad Recipes

If you’re into eating more greens to have more energy and be healthier, check out my other vegan salads below:

• Healthy Sheet Pan Harvest Bowls
• Chilled Asparagus Salad w/ Garlic Miso Dressing
• Easy Summer Fruit Salad w/ Maple Lime Dressing
• Minted Summer Fruit Salad with Balsamic Maple Dressing
• Pear, Pecan & Portobello Mushroom Salad

Don’t Forget this Very Important Step

If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and give it a star rating. And please don’t forget to take a photo and tag it #veganvigilanteblog on Instagram. I’d love to stay connected so be sure to follow me on Facebook , Pinterest and Twitter . As always, comments about what you love about this recipe and/or what you did differently are always welcome.

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