Southwest Salad. Jalapeño Vinaigrette. Honey Butter Cornbread Croutons.

When life gives you leftover cornbread… well it wasn’t “life” exactly, it was my mother-in-law who made us some amazing cornbread and because it was too good to waste I did what any sensible person would do… I fried it in butter and threw it in a Southwest Salad!

This salad is good. Really good. But I’m not going to lie… the plate of these croutons sat on the counter for the day and they were gone by the end of the day. Ok, by dinner, they were gone by dinner. And it was only me eating them.

Everything about this salad is delicious. The dressing is heaven and made in the blender so it only takes minutes to throw together. You can even make the dressing and the croutons ahead of time and throw the whole thing together at the last minute. So easy. Plus, there’s cheese AND bacon in it so I’m not really sure what more I can say…

Recipe-ish:

Ingredients

For the dressing:
Zest and juice of one lime
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 jalapeño (seeded or not)
1 small garlic clove
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup avocado oil
For the croutons:
3 cups cubed day-old cornbread
3 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp honey
salt
For the salad:
Chopped romaine
Corn kernels
Chopped tomato
Diced avocado
Sliced red onion
Grated cheddar
Cooked crumbled bacon

Directions

To make the dressing combine together the lime zest, juice, honey, cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, salt and oil.
Blend until smooth using an immersion blender or regular blender.
To make the croutons melt the butter in a nonstick skillet and add in the cornbread. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and lightly crisp. Drizzle with about a Tbsp honey and add a good sprinkle of salt.
Toss the salad ingredients with the dressing. Top with the croutons.

Let me know what you think!

If you like this Southwest Salad you should definitely check out my Strawberry Mango Avocado Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette!