Southwest spring chopped salad

salad
Difficulty

Intermediate

Cooktime

40 min

Smoky chipotle ranch dressing makes your fresh spring produce sing a smoky serenade.

About this recipe

This salad maximizes the bounty of spring produce, incorporating tender lettuce, new potatoes, asparagus, sugar snap peas and radishes. We promise the extra step of blanching the asparagus and the snap peas is worth it – it brings out the absolute best flavor and texture of these fresh veggies. Black beans and roasted pepitas contribute both texture and essential vitamins and minerals. To turn this salad into a satisfying main dish, increase the serving of black beans or add grilled tofu or tempeh for an extra protein boost.

Crown this salad with a zesty drizzle of JUST Chipotle Ranch, which takes your standard chop salad to a whole new territory. Our vegan chipotle ranch dressing is a rich and tangy ranch imbued with smoky chipotle spice. This salad would also be delicious tossed with our classic vegan ranch dressing, JUST Ranch. No matter which you use, all of our dressings are fully plant-based, dairy-free and soy-free. And our delicious dressings are for more than just salad – bake up a batch of green onion ranch biscuits or chipotle black bean stuffed tomatoes. Explore more plant-based entrées and healthy meal ideas on our cookbook page.

Serves 4-6

4-6
  • 1 jar JUST Chipotle Ranch
  • ¾ lb. small new potatoes, such as fingerlings or baby Yukon
  • 1 bunch of asparagus, tough ends snapped off
  • 1 cup sugar snap peas, trimmed
  • ¾ cup radishes, tops and roots trimmed off
  • 1 cup black beans
  • 2 small heads of little gem lettuce (or about 4 cups of any salad green)
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped roughly
  • ½ cup pepitas, roasted and salted
  • Salt

Equipment

Equipment
  • saucepan icon

    Medium saucepan

  • saucepan icon

    Large saucepan

  • bowl icon

    Large bowl

  • Knife

01 / 04

Boil the potatoes

potatoes

Clean the potatoes. Halve or quarter them so that they are bite-sized. Add to a medium saucepan and cover with cold water until immersed by at least an inch. Bring to a boil, add 1 teaspoon of salt and let them simmer for about 10 minutes until they feel tender all the way through when pierced with a fork. Drain immediately and set aside.

02 / 04

Blanch the asparagus and snap peas

peas

Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil. While the water comes to a boil, prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with equal parts ice and cold water. Once boiling, season the water generously with salt. Add the asparagus and cook for 3 minutes, then use tongs to transfer to the ice bath. Let them cool for a minute, then remove the asparagus from the ice bath and drain. Next, add the snap peas to the boiling water and cook for about 1 ½ minutes. Transfer to the ice bath for a minute, then drain. Pat the vegetables dry with a clean kitchen towel. Chop the asparagus on the bias into bite-sized pieces and slice the snap peas on the bias, ¼- to ½-inch thick.

03 / 04

Chop all the other vegetables

vegetables

Halve the radishes and thinly slice them into half-moons. Rinse and chop the cilantro. Clean your lettuce and, if the leaves are large, tear them into smaller chunks.

04 / 04

Assemble the salad

salad

You can plate this salad in individual servings or on one big platter. Whichever you choose, put a layer of lettuce leaves on the bottom. Top the lettuce with the new potatoes, asparagus, sugar snap peas, radishes and black beans. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and the roasted pepitas. When ready to serve, drizzle generously with JUST Chipotle Ranch.

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