Southwestern Taco Salad

We had some friends visiting from overseas one of which has a slight obsession with Tex-Mex flavors.  Some friends gathered for dinner and there was cumin and chili pepper all over the place!

My offering was a Southwestern Taco Salad that I read in this month's Cooking Light.  I warned you there were a bunch of recipes coming from the month's issue.  I loved it!  It combines some of my favorite vegetables and the dressing was fantastic.  Grilling the corn and the shrimp added a great smoky depth of flavor.

Note: Unless you have a great ventilation fan over your stove, grill the corn outside.  My smoke detectors protested quite a bit!  :)

Southwestern Taco Salad

adapted from Cooking Light May 2010

Dressing

1/4 cup of lime juice

2 TBS of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

2 tsp of maple syrup

2 tsp of chipotle hot sauce

Salad:

3/4 lb of shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 ears of corn, shucked

cooking spray

1 cup of romaine lettuce, chopped

4 scallions, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 avocado, diced

Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, garlic, maple syrup, and hot sauce.  Combine a TBS or so with the shrimp in a bowl, stir well.  Spray the corn with cooking spray and grill, turning frequently for about 10 minutes.  Skewer the shrimp and grill until just pink about 2-3 minutes on each side.  Set the shrimp and corn aside to cool.  Cut the kernels off the corn ears and remove shrimp for the skewers.  Using a large platter it is time to start building your salad.  Starting with the lettuce then the peppers, scallions, beans, corn, shrimp, and avocado layer the salad.  Then pour the remaining dressing over the entire salad.  Enjoy!

One friend brought these amazing enchiladas.  Check this recipe out.  It was a great dish.  Thanks for bringing them!!