Mexican Chopped Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

I can't grow delphinium to save my life. Seriously. I plant them every year, and every year they die. I guess it's just not meant to be.

Lettuce, on the other hand, is apparently meant to be EVERYWHERE.

I planted lettuce from seed last year in one little 4' x 4' raised bed. It did really well. Too well, even, because the darn stuff dropped seeds all over the place. This year I'm completely overrun in lettuce, and I didn't plant any.

That has led to Alexis often making herself a salad for lunch after a walk through the yard. It's all sorts of quaint and adorable how she puts together different things. It's almost like we're legit crunchy over here.

Trust me; we're not.

We are enjoying salads, though.

Recently I dug through my memory bank in search of something I haven't had in a while. I finally remembered this little restaurant I used to go to in Houston when I worked on a project there about 10 years ago. It was a Mexican restaurant, but not really. I'd more call it faux-Mexican, but it was delicious. The burritos were outstanding, though mostly I ordered the Mexican Chopped Salad there.

I couldn't figure out the name of the place using Google, so I couldn't access a menu online. That meant I had to go off memory for what was in the salad. I think I nailed it, frankly. And if not? Oh well. This version is pretty darn good as well.

Mexican Chopped Salad (makes 4 side salads)

One bunch green leaf lettuce, cleaned and chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1/2 cup corn (frozen or fresh -- it doesn't matter)
1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed thoroughly
8-10 grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup queso fresco
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons honey (more if you want sweeter dressing)
1 tablespoon cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

1. To make the dressing, place the olive oil, lime juice, honey, and cilantro in a small bowl. Mix them up using a fork or whisk.

2. Throw everything else in the list in a large bowl. Throw the dressing on top and toss it. That's it. You're done.

3. For what it's worth, I threw some of the leftovers from making the salad (such as the remainder of the can of black beans) into a skillet with some tofu and called it fajitas. Nobody questioned me, so it must have been good.