Southwestern Salad Recipe with black beans and corn … and so much more. A beautiful combination of greens and vegetables with a feisty honey lime vinaigrette.

Southwestern Salad Recipe with corn and black beans served in a glass serving bowl with a side of cumin lime honey vinaigrette and cotija cheese

Side Dishes For Southwestern Food

I’ve always loved making a good tossed salad, one that loaded with fresh ingredients. When I attended Culinary School, one of our Chef Instructors always made the most incredible salads. And I mean incredible.

He inspired me to write my blog post for 9 Secrets to a Remarkable Tossed Salad. I hope you take a look.

Everyone needs a good Mexican tossed salad recipe that you can serve with Enchiladas, Tacos, Burritos … and beyond.

This salad is not only a healthy eating lifesaver, it’s awesome with flavor and full of fresh ingredients. What’s not to love:

It’s tossed with an exciting Southwestern homemade vinaigrette
And a beautiful excuse to use crunchy jicama
It showcases corn and black beans
It doubles as a side dish and a tossed salad
It’s easy to throw together, not to mention very pretty to look at.
It … is … so … Good.

Southwestern Salad Recipe with Black Beans, corn, radishes, jicama, tomatoes served in a glass salad bowl.

This Salad has become our go-to side salad to serve with any type of Mexican food.

It’s made with a bright zesty cumin-lime vinaigrette that’s easy to make in just a couple of minutes. Just grab a mason jar with a tight fitting lid, add the ingredients and give it a really good shaking.

As with any salad, the ingredients are easily customized. Greens, cheeses, just use what makes you happy. This salad would also make a fabulous Southwestern main course salad … shredded chicken, cubed steak or shrimp. Delicious!

I make this salad nearly every time I make Mexican food. It’s a winner.

My preferences for ingredients for my Southwestern Salad:

Greens: I like to buy the clamshell of artisan greens at King Soopers. The package contains Sweet Gem, Tango and Oak lettuces. This brings purple leaf, lime green stalks and a variety of shapes. Makes for a very pretty combination to compliment the bright colored ingredients.

Jicama: This salad benefits from the cool crunch of Jicama. And what a great excuse to use this globe shaped root vegetable from Mexico.

Canned Black Beans: So easy, just drain and rinse.

Corn: Fresh or frozen. Either works beautifully in this salad.

Bell Pepper: Red, orange or yellow brings beautiful color and crunch.

Fresh Tomatoes: When it’s not tomato season, I buy those packages of cherry tomatoes that one can find year ’round. They’re easy to slice in half and then quarter for perfect little bite sized pieces.

Onion: I like to use sweet yellow onion for this salad. Of course you can use red onion, it’s just a little strong in flavor for me. But looks pretty.

Radishes: Sliced thin, they’re commonly used as a garnish for Mexican food, and, of course, they work beautifully in this Southwestern Salad.

Cilantro: We love it. Omit if you’re not a fan.

Avocado: Friends don’t let friends eat a Mexican salad without chopped avocado. 🙂

Jalapeno Peppers: So pretty, so festive. Just cut off the top, and using the handle of a spoon to scrape the veins and seeds from the pepper. This will reduce the heat factor. Just slice and sprinkle.

Tortilla Strips: Adding a handful of crispy tortilla strips gives this salad a wonderful crunch. You can purchase bags of pre-made tortilla strips at the grocery store. We happen to like the “Santa Fe” flavor. That little bit of heat makes them delicious.

Cheese: We prefer a Mexican Crumbling cheese. I love how it looks and it brings a salty topping to all of those beautiful vegetables. Look for Cotija or Queso Fresco.

How to remove kernels from fresh corn on the cob

On Using Fresh Corn for this Mexican Salad Recipe

In a perfect world, one would prepare this salad during the peak of sweet corn season. With sweet beautiful plump kernels of corn from quick blanched corn on the cob. A sharp knife makes removing the kernels and easy task. Or you may have a gadget that you like to use to remove them.

Just blanch the corn on the cob for two minutes in boiling water. Remove and when cool enough to handle, slice the kernels off the cob using a sharp knife or that gadget made for removing kernels.

You’ll want to serve this Southwestern salad year ’round, so using frozen corn works perfectly fine for this salad. No need to cook it, just warm it in the microwave to thaw.