Lettuce Salad Recipe

Southwestern Style Corn Black Bean Lettuce Salad Turns Pantry Staples to A Healthy and Easy Side Dish

This lettuce salad recipe is super easy and affordable. Eating healthy with a low budget and feed a big crowd makes this recipe much better.

Total Time: 8-10 Minutes
Prep Time: 8-10 Minutes
Active Cook Time: ZERO
Inactive Cook Time: ZERO
Serving: 4

My late father-in-law was dying of cancer during that period of time when this recipe was first created. It was the spring of 2010. For 8 weeks on a roll, we made a 4-hour trip to Pennsylvania with our 9-month old every weekend right after work on Fridays, came back home on Sundays and got back to work on Mondays.

Many of our families live in Pennsylvania that they paid their weekly visit, too. While everybody was there, we all brought food to pass around, especially since my late father-in-law was a food lover. Even he was bed bound back then, he would eat as much as he could.

Yes, my late father-in-law loved to eat and ate a lot. You may think that he got to be overweight. Well, it was the extreme opposite. He was very skinny. He was an electrician and worked very hard. Even though he ate a lot, he worked hard enough to burn it off so that he could enjoy more food after work. When he was dying, he still didn't want to stop. He still climbed up to the roof and tried to do something. Man....it took a lot of us to convince him to get back down that day.

Anyway, this recipe was inspired by our food exchange during that time in the memory of my late father-in-law, Floyd Read.

Southwestern Style Corn Black Bean Lettuce Salad - Always saves the dressing until serving

TIPS & TRICKS

I personally prefer to cut up my vegetables and wash them with a salad spinner. If time is allowed, I still wash my vegetables even I bought them pre-washed for the salad.
Buying a head of iceberg lettuce is much more economical than buying it pre-cut. But if time is an essence, pre-cut is surely the way to go.

Store salad dressing separately and only add it before serving. Using this method will allow you to pre-assemble the salad and use it for later. I brought this salad along with me for my morning snack at work. You can do the same, too.

Lettuce Salad Recipe and Directions

Southwestern Style Corn Black Bean Lettuce Salad - Great for snack time

Brought it to work for my snack time

Ingredients

1 head Iceberg lettuce (discard core, cut in bite size and rinsed) or 24-oz Bag Pre-washed Iceberg Lettuce Mix
1 can (15 oz; drained) Sweet Corn Kernels
1 can (15 oz; drained and rinsed) Black Beans
Store-bought Ranch Dressing

Directions