Chopped Mexican Salad with Roasted Peppers, Corn, Tomatoes, and Avocado

Chopped salads can mostly be made a few hours ahead, with components stored separately; then arranged and dressed at the last moment before serving. Goes very nicely with Tortilla Soup.

It's no secret that chopped salads require a good bit of - you guessed it- chopping. But the nuances of flavor and texture you'll get with each bite will more than reward you for the time spent at the cutting board. It's a good idea to use a sharp knife, one that's comfortable for you. Chop the ingredients into small dice, keeping the size roughly uniform for all, which makes the salad both visually appealing and easy to eat (big cubes or chunks can be awkward). Serves twelve.

1 large orange, red, and yellow bell peppers

2 ears fresh corn

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sweet cherry tomatoes, cut into fourths (about 1-3/4 cups)

1 small jicama, cut into ¼” dice (about 2 cups)

2 large firm avocados, cut into ¼” dice (about 2-1/2 cups)

1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained, rinsed

¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

2-3 heads hearts of romaine, chopped small

Honey Lime Cumin Vinaigrette

1 small clove garlic

Kosher salt

3 Tbsp fresh lime juice

3 Tbsp fresh orange juice

2 tsp finely chopped shallot

2½-3 Tbsp honey, to your taste (I used about 3 Tbs)

3/4 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and finely ground*

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Roast the peppers and corn:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 425°. Line a heavy duty rimmed baking sheet with foil. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove the stem, seed core, and ribs. Put the pepper halves on the baking sheet, cut side down. Husk the corn and put the ears on the baking sheet. Drizzle the oil over the peppers and corn and rub it around to coat the pepper skins and corn kernels evenly. Sprinkle the corn with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until the peppers are soft, slightly shriveled and browned and the corn kernels are lightly browned in a few spots, about 20 minutes (rotate the corn occasionally as it roasts).

When the vegetables are done, let them rest until cool enough to handle. Scrape away the pepper skin and cut the flesh into 1/2-inch dice. Cut the corn kernels from the cob. You should have about 1-1/2 cups kernels.

Make the vinaigrette:

Mince and mash the garlic to a paste with 1/4 tsp salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the garlic paste with the lime and orange juices, shallot, honey and toasted ground cumin. Slowly add the oil in a thin stream, whisking until well blended. Season to taste with black pepper and more salt and honey, if you like.

Assemble the salad:*

Artfully arrange the peppers, corn, tomatoes, jicama, avocadoes and black beans in stripes or piles on a small platter or other wide shallow serving dish. Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro. Serve the vinaigrette in a pitcher. Invite guests to spoon elements of the salad onto their plates and drizzle on some of the vinaigrette. Or drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad platter just before serving.

*I tossed it all together in a large bowl, with the dressing, and served it that way. I think salads taste better when tossed with the dressing, rather than drizzling the dressing over the individual salads.

Make ahead:

You may chop all the salad ingredients up to 4 hours ahead and store them separately covered in the fridge. Put the avocado pits in the bowl with the cut up avocado, to prevent browning.

*You need a Mexican lava rock type of mortar and pestle to grind the roasted cumin seeds. If you don’t have one, just used ground cumin.