My New Favorite Summertime Mexican Salad

Hello from the West coast! I got back to San Diego last night after having a fantastic stay in Jersey. My Monday has been nonstop, and started off with me picking up my very excited puppy from the pet resort. Okay, I might have been very excited too… I missed my Harley girl the past few weeks!

A few shots from last weekend at my family’s shore house:

the whole family

with my younger siblings

I’m happy I got to spend a good amount of time with my cutie pie nephew during my trip.

The last time I saw him he was just a little munchkin! I can’t even deal with his sun outfit:

I had an amazing time with my family and friends, and I think I miss them already. But let’s face it, the past 2 weeks of my life have included too much food and booze, and not enough working out and sleep. It’s not like I didn’t eat salads or exercise at all, but I’ve been taking in too many calories and not being as active as I like to be. That’s how vacations usually go, but I’m looking forward to getting back to my healthier lifestyle. I couldn’t wait to stock my fridge today with tons of produce to get back into the swing of eating as nutritiously as possible (and perhaps NOT having drinks every night 😉 ). I was craving a monster salad tonight, so I threw together this combo. It totally hit the spot, and I think I’ll be making it again very soon!

Summertime Salad

What you need:

2 c chopped romaine, or other type of lettuce
1/2 c fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 oz sliced avocado
1/2 c sliced cherry tomatoes
1/2 c canned black beans, drained and rinsed (I heated mine before adding to the salad.)
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
1 slice of red onion, finely chopped
A handful of alfalfa sprouts
1/4 c shredded Mexican cheese
2 TBSP ranch dressing
Mixed up salt