Ultimate Goddess Salad

Let’s face it, weeknight dinners can get pretty boring. You’re trying to eat light and healthy, and the ideas quickly run out, especially when you’re searching for something that’s quick and easy.

This salad is an iteration of an idea I had to do a Mexican caesar salad, but instead of making the dressing from scratch, I combined some store-bought Goddess dressing with pepitas, olive oil, lime juice, and a serrano pepper in a hand blender, then tossed with the rest of the ingredients, which add even more flavor and wonderful texture.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1/2 avocado, roughly chopped
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
• 1 serrano pepper, roughly chopped
• 2 whole persian cucumbers, quartered and cut into 1″ pieces
• 3 TBSP Annie’s Organic Goddess Dressing
• Juice from 1 lime
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 2 TBSP pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
• Crumbled cotija cheese (parmesan is a decent substitute)
• Crushed yellow tortilla chips
• Bacon bits

Instructions

1. Add Goddess dressing, lime juice, olive oil, pepitas, and serrano pepper to the cup of a hand blender and puree until well integrated. If you don’t have a hand blender finely chop the pepitas and serrano and whisk everything together in a small bowl.
2. Chop the romaine, avocado, jalapeno, and cucumbers, add to a large bowl and then thoroughly coat with the dressing. If the dressing seems to thick, add a little more olive oil or lime juice. I like to add the dressing in 2 waves. You can fix and under-dressed salad, but it’s impossible to fix an over-dressed salad.
3. Add the cotija, crushed chips and a small pinch of the bacon bits, then toss and mix using tongs to ensure every bite has all the great texture and flavor from these finishing elements
4. Freestyle the rest. Salads like this benefit from a range of textures and flavors. Poached chicken breast, hard boiled eggs, herbs, tomatoes, or other vegetables all can play a part…balanced flavor, equally sized pieces and a range of textures are the key to a good salad, so let the creativity unleash!