Every couple of weeks, I get an envelope of goodies from my mom-in-law, Doris, y’know, coupons and stuff that she thinks I’d be interested in. A few weeks back, along with the always welcome coupons (thanks, mom!), she enclosed a recipe cut from, I think, a frozen pizza box describing a salad made with romaine, corn, black beans, and tomato, and dressed with ranch dressing and barbecue sauce.
She had me at ranch dressing and barbecue sauce, I was gonna make this salad.
How convenient, then, that I’d just that week made a fine pot of black beans, and ad more than enough left over to add to a salad.
A friend of ours had also shared a really nice loaf of artisan-made rye bread that I’d turned into some pretty decent croutons, I had several jars of my own barbecue sauce sitting in the pantry waiting to be used, and some buttermilk salad dressing all ready sitting in a squeeze jar in the fridge; we were good to go…
INGREDIENTS*
•Romaine lettuce, chopped or torn
•Corn
•Black beans, drained and rinsed
•Chopped tomato
•Shredded cheese (I used some really nice Cheddar)
•Buttermilk dressing (you can use Ranch)
•BBQ sauce
•Rye croutons
•Fresh parsley or cilantro (optional)
*Mom’s recipe called for specific amounts of each ingredient; I figure you can be trusted to judge how much of each to add to suit your tastes and the size of your gathering.
Add the romaine, corn, black beans, tomato, croutons, and shredded cheese to a large serving bowl along with some chopped fresh parsley or cilantro, if you like.
Top with the buttermilk dressing and drizzle with the barbecue sauce. Toss and serve.
Pretty terrific salad. Thanks again, mom.