If you love salads and Mexican food (like I do) you’ll appreciate this recipe. I was inspired by a local chain of Mexican restaurants in the Seattle area called Acapulco Fresh. Their Mexican vinaigrette salad is the only thing I order when I’m there. So here’s my version of a Mexican vinaigrette salad.
There’s a bit of prep work involved here, but once you have the salsa, dressing, and salad ingredients made, it’s so simple to combine. And all the essential ingredients can be stored in the refrigerator until you’re ready to eat. The only thing I like to prepare right before I eat is the guacamole – mostly to prevent it from turning brown. You can prevent guacamole from turning brown (due to exposure to air) by adding lemon (or lime juice) and sealing it well.
You can make this salad as heavy or light as you like. I always have guacamole with it, but you can also add beans, sour cream or yogurt, and other kinds of salsas on top. And of course adding a pile of chips does the trick too. The chip in the photo is made of corn (which is gluten free but not grain free), so for a grain-free chip, try either my cheese chip I included below, or my nacho cheese chip recipe.
If you don’t like pineapple in your salsa, just remove it and the honey from the salsa recipe and you’ll have a straight-up fresh salsa. And of course, feel free to add other spicy stuff to this salsa – I’m kind of a wimp when it comes to spicy stuff, but I can see adding jalapeno pepper or a sprinkle of chipotle powder.
Another thing I do sometimes is lightly saute the salad ingredients (not the lettuce or guacamole though) in some salt and olive oil to have a slightly warm salad. Kind of like having a vegetable fajita.
Mexican Vinaigrette Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 cup guacamole
- 1 zucchini trimmed and sliced into bite-size pieces
- 1 lettuce head chopped or sliced into strips
- 1/2 cup sliced onions
Pineapple Salsa
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped pineapple
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- drizzle of honey
- pinch of salt
Dressing
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1.5 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- pinch of salt
- pinch of chipotle or cayenne pepper optional for some heat
Instructions
- Prepare the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together except the oil until the honey dissolves. I almost always melt the honey a bit so that it dissolves well. Next, add the olive oil and shake well.
- Prepare the salsa either by chopping all the ingredients by hand and combining them, or place them in a food processor and pulse a few times to chop and blend everything.
- Place the romaine lettuce on a plate, top with the other salad ingredients, and then top with guacamole and other personal additions.
- Mix the dressing into the salad and enjoy!
Nutrition
Cheese Chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Place small bunches of cheese (about 1 to 2 tablespoons full) about 2 inches apart from each other on a piece of parchment paper or non-stick mat.
- Place the cheese chips in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until they are starting to brown.
- Cool for a few minutes and then munch away!
I didn’t make the salad, but made the dressing for a salad I concocted on my own and the dressing is perfect!
Great to hear! thanks 🙂
Beautiful salad! This would be great with a seasoned chicken breast too.
Yes – definitely. I’m just not eating meat at the moment and it still tastes great.
Truly one gorgeous salad! I look forward to trying this soon.
thanks!
This looks delicious! I love any salad dressing with apple cider vinegar in it. It gives it some sweet while keeping the tang 😉