Santa Fe Taco Salad with Cool Salsa Ranch - peppery arugula and fresh Southwest flavors combine with crunchy ranch tortilla chips and a Cool Salsa Ranch for a perfectly simple and satisfying salad!
No, I am not really sharing a recipe for salad here today. Well, I suppose I am, but really? This is about the Cool Salsa Ranch.
Jason jokes about how much I love my ranch dressing. I make a new batch nearly every week, and pour it over pretty much everything. Dip everything into it. Think about dunking a straw into it. Buy chips flavored like it.
So you could say I am a ranch connoisseur. Not an incredibly lofty goal as titles go, but I'll take it. I like my ranch cool, I like my ranch thin. I like my ranch new and different each week (as long as it is still cool and thin).
Last week, I got my ranch in my salsa. No, I got my salsa in my ranch? Please tell me someone remembers those old Chocolate In My Peanut Butter Reese's commercials...
So yes, today I am not so much sharing a simple salad recipe, but really a vehicle.
A Cool Salsa Ranch vehicle.
Plus, we just returned from a vacation in Austin, Texas - I went for the third and final Vida Vegan Conference, Jason came along and we extended the trip with several days vacation - where we ate All The Tacos.
So I am still in Taco Mode. I still want to be eating All The Tacos.
Peppery arugula, fresh greens, crispy chips.
Creamy avocado, sweet corn, vibrant tomato.
and the Cool Ranch with Fresh Salsa.
These are my flavors of summer.
Santa Fe Taco Salad with Cool Salsa Ranch
YIELD: 4 salads
dairy, egg, soy, oil, and gluten free, vegan
INGREDIENTS:
1 bunch arugula, rinsed
8 ounces mixed greens, rinsed and torn to bite size
1 pint cherry tomatoes, rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3-4 ears fresh corn (about 2 ½ cups), cut from cob
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and cubed
Ranch chips (my favorite!)
Oil Free Celery Ranch Dressing
Fresh Salsa Salsa (recipes below)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Arrange greens on serving platter or divide between individual plates. Top greens with tomatoes, beans, corn, and avocado.
Combine Oil Free Celery Ranch Dressing with Fresh Simple Salsa. Pour over salad.
Fresh Simple Salsa
YIELD: enough for a small serving - easily doubled
dairy, egg, soy and gluten free, vegan
INGREDIENTS:
3 fresh Roma tomatoes, diced fine
1 shallot, peeled and diced fine
1 small jalapeño pepper, stems, ribs, seeds removed, diced fine
juice of 1 lime
INSTRUCTIONS:
In small mixing bowl, combine tomatoes, shallot, jalapeño, and lime juice.
Perfect for Taco Tuesday - your dinner plans for tomorrow are set!
printable Santa Fe Taco Salad with Cool Salsa Ranch recipes:
dairy, egg, soy, oil, and gluten free, vegan
Santa Fe Taco Salad with Cool Salsa Ranch
Ingredients
Instructions
Arman @ thebigmansworld says
This is just a tease now. I actually need to have a pool party in the salsa ranch.
Kristina Sloggett says
GRAND idea!
Barrett @dirtylaundrykitchen.com says
The dressing looks great. I will have to give this variation a try. This is one of my partner's favorite salads, but I never feel like the dressing is
Kristina Sloggett says
thanks Barrett, hope you enjoy!
florian @ContentednessCooking says
Love the flavors look like the perfect salad to me! The dressing is just marvelous with the addition of coconut milk, yum!
Kristina Sloggett says
the coconut milk gives my ranch that 'cool' thing I love!
Sara says
This looks like pretty much the perfect salad to me, I love what you did with the ranch (my favorite dressing!)
Kristina Sloggett says
Cool Salsa Ranch is the happening thing around here - we had this again last night - ha!
Rachael @ La Fuji Mama says
I seriously want this RIGHT NOW. I'm obviously up too late because my tummy is telling me it's time for a second dinner, and this post is NOT helping things. Seriously! That dressing looks like something I would put on everything. Except maybe ice cream, because that might be gross. Maybe.
Kristina Sloggett says
ha! maybe. hey, it might work... hmm... 😉
Alisa @ Go Dairy Free says
Love this! I'm actually working on a similar recipe because I'm craving these flavors so much lately.
Kristina Sloggett says
we had this again last night. we've been having this often, in slightly different ways, so easy and so good, and yes I have been craving the crunch of a salad and these flavors!
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table says
Cool Ranch sounds heavenly. But now I want Doritos. LOL!
Kristina Sloggett says
ha! yep, my job is done here.
lindsay says
seriously? yes, you made this for me, didn't you? Oh on my way!
Kristina Sloggett says
aw Lindsay, I SO wish you were on your way!
Michelle says
Sorry for this being off topic but could you recommend the best place in Portland to get gluten free, vegan bread? The only place I've heard about is New Cascadia. Thoughts?
My parents will be in Portland next week and I would love for them to bring me some goodies. 🙂
Kristina Sloggett says
hey Michelle, no problem! New Cascadia is very good, that is the one I use most often - I definitely recommend they visit them! If they want to bring you some other bakery treats besides bread, Back to Eden and Petunia's are both excellent vegan / gf bakeries!
Hope they enjoy Portland - cheers!
Bianca says
Yay for the ongoing tributes to tacos post-VVC! I feel like everyone is still making tacos! I'm also a diehard ranch lover! Must try this recipe. Also, I spy a sriracha-to-go! I have one too. So handy.
Kristina Sloggett says
I love my Sriracha To Go! and yes, I cannot get enough tacos. and I am missing Arlo's truck - we had tacos there on our last day!