Summer Salad with Cashew Chipotle Dressing

All the fresh ingredients for this salad can be readily purchased from a local Grower's Market, or a supermarket.

The corn can be used raw if the cobs are fresh. If not the corn should be lightly cooked.

The cashew dressing is one of my favourites, as it has a creamy texture and a hot smoky flavour.

Small tins of chipotle peppers can be purchased at the supermarket and once opened, the peppers, stored in a small glass jar in the refrigerator, will keep for several weeks

Ingredients

Salad

• 3 cups (firmly packed) lettuce, chopped into pieces (scissors work well)
• 1 cup cooked (or raw) corn, taken off the cob (or use tinned or frozen)
• 1 cup diced cucumber
• 1 cup cooked red kidney beans, rinsed and drained if using tinned.

Dressing

• 1/3 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 to 1 tsp (depending on preferred heat) of finely chopped, tinned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ tsp salt (or to taste)

Method

Mix all salad ingredients together.

Process the dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Toss the salad with all but two tablespoons of the dressing.

Drizzle the remaining dressing over the salad.