Chipotle Black Bean Mango Salad

Lately I have been wanting Southwestern flavors non-stop, so I have been testing all kinds of new Mexican and Southwestern recipes to satisfy the craving. In my hunt I stumbled across this super tasty burrito bowl recipe from Damn Delicious. It is so tasty and a great substitute for my favorite Burrito Bowl from Chipotle, but it's a little heavy to eat as frequently as I want. I really liked the flavor combination and could seriously have eaten her burrito bowl everyday for lunch, so I have been tweaking her recipe and I finally came up with the perfect vegetarian salad I can eat for lunch everyday guilt-free. Here is my newest food obsession -

Chipotle Black Bean Mango Salad

Salad Ingredients: 

2-3 cups chopped lettuce of your choice, washed (I like red leaf or romaine)

1/2 cup black beans, rinsed

1 medium tomato, chopped

1/4 cup chopped mango

1/2 avocado, chopped

1/4 cup yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped (optional)

Cilantro for garnish, to taste (I'm a little heavy-handed with the cilantro as you can see)

Dressing Ingredients: 

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

1/4 cup salsa of your choice (I like to use a fresh salsa)

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/8-1/4 tsp ground Chipotle pepper - more if you like it extra smoky (I use Penzey's) 

I'm heavy-handed with the Chipotle because I can't get enough of the smoky flavor. 

Instructions: 

In a salad bowl, layer the lettuce, black beans, tomato, mango, avocado, and bell pepper (if using). In a small bowl, stir Greek yogurt (or sour cream), salsa, lime juice, and ground Chipotle seasoning together until well blended. Pour the dressing over the layered salad, add cilantro, and toss ingredients until combined and coated with dressing. Enjoy! 

Because we all know I love my gadgetry, I just had to add a little plug for the value of a mango slicer. If you haven't invested in a mango slicer yet, you seriously should! I picked one up for $0.60 at St. Vinny's a few months ago, and we have eaten more mango in the past few months than I think I have in my whole life. It is SOOO handy; I just put it over the stem, press down, and voila - 2 perfect halves of edible mango. After it's cut, I just scoop the fruit out with a spoon, just like an avocado. Here's a photo from today (because I was, of course, making this salad for probably the sixth time in 2 weeks). 

Perfectly Sliced Mango!!