New York Times Cooking included this salad as one of “The 23 Best Salads of All Time” in a recent email I received. One of the categories; The Leafy Ones is where this recipe belongs. It is among some of the most common salads we know; the garden salad (house salad), caesar salad and wedge salad to name a few.
They are dinner-worthy salads that we owe some thanks to chain restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen. When we shopped at the local mall this restaurant was a frequent stop for lunch – often one of their salads but of course an occasional pizza!!! It’s inspired by Caesar Salad and ranch dressing and the dressing generously coats the ingredients, which is absolutely delicious.
I found this recipe in my New York Times Calendar (see picture below) which my sister gifted me. There is a recipe for every day of the year and all you do is tear off any recipe you would like to make, this salad fell on April 18th. The drawback is you don’t get any comments. Sometimes they appear on the website but you have to be a subscriber. NYT Cooking is currently $50.00/year which I do recommend for recipes that are up-to-date and by many authors you might know. You can buy the 2026 calendar with 365 recipes from Amazon for under $20.00 (pre-order) – such a deal and makes a great gift for your favorite cook.
It’s a good article on the different salads: https://cooking.nytimes.com/article/best-salad-recipes Other categories are The Hefty Ones like Seven-Layer Salad, The Starchy Ones like Potato Salad, The Fruity Ones like Caprese Salad or Greek Salad.
Chopped Salad with Jalapeno-Ranch Dressing
Recipe by Alexa Weibel, Adapted by Judi Graber
Dressing: I would make 1-1/2 recipe or even double it!
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (I did use full-fat)
- 1/2 cup (low-fat) Hellmann’s mayo
- 1/4 cup finely chopped scallions, green and white parts
- 2 tbsp. finely chopped jalapeno – add some seeds for more heat
- 1 medium lime, zested (some viewers were confused about whether to use the juice as well – I only used the zest and I thought the dressing tasted great)
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp. Kosher salt (I used 1/2 tsp. – to taste)
- 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper (to taste)
Alexa commented that this much salt was needed when tossed with a lot of vegetables. I chose not to add that much. Otherwise, whisk all of the ingredients together and set aside to chill.
Salad:
- romaine hearts, trimmed and chopped into bite-size pieces
- fresh ears of corn, shucked and kernels removed from the cobs (I like to steam them briefly)
- radishes, halved and thinly sliced into half-moons
- avocados, pitted and diced (I did not add)
- scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced at an angle
- crumbled Cotija – could also use Parmesan
- chopped cilantro, leaves and tender stems (I used parsley – leaves only as a garnish)
- crumbled lime tortilla chips (these are really good – The chips tie the salad together with saltiness, crunch and a nice hint of lime)
- I added cherry tomatoes, small red beans and mini cucumber slices
In a large bowl, toss the romaine with half of these ingredients: corn, radishes, avocado, sliced scallions, Cotija and cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper – I didn’t follow that step. I tossed the romaine with a little dressing and served the rest of the dressing on the side. I served each topping in a separate bowl so guests can pick the toppings they want.
Top with the remaining corn, radishes, avocados, scallions, Cotija and cilantro, scattering the garnishes on top or arranging them in strips or piles as shown in the picture above. Crumble up some of those delicious chips on top. Drizzle the salad with an additional 1/4 cup dressing. Serve any remaining dressing and additional tortilla chips alongside.
Recipe by cookingwithauntjuju.com
Mmmmmm. Jalapeño Ranch. My head practically snapped back on that one. Sounds ah-mazing! 😋🌿🌶️
The dressing and the tortilla chips with a hint of lime are the two main stars of this salad – so tasty 🙂
Nice. Love the salad, and I really love the dressing! I was reluctant to sign up for NYTimes Cooking, but I finally did…
I just received this email on “corn” and it included a microwave recipe from NYT Cooking. You must get these emails too??? Apparently, this is not a new thing as there are many posts about it 🙂
Great fresh and colorful summer salad. Homemade dressings are the best! 🙂
Perefect for a light meal! I am trying to organize all the homemade dressings I have and there’s a bunch 🙂
Yes that original amount of salt sounds like a lot. Good idea to reduce it.
sherry
I always reduce the salt in recipes and this salad is salty enough with the tortilla chips 🙂