Southwest Salad with Cilantro Honey Lime Dressing

(Recipe from the very talented Si Foster at www.abountifulkitchen.com)

I have made this salad twice in the last week with great reviews and plan to do it again next week for an entirely different audience! I did add shredded chicken to make it more of a meal and not just a salad.

Salad:
1 1/2 large heads Romaine lettuce, washed and spinned until very dry
1 can Mexican Corn, drained well
1 can black beans, washed and drained
2 avocados, chopped (not too soft) choose avocados that are fairly firm
1 bunch green onions, sliced
4-5 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cup Pepper Jack Cheese, grated
1 1/2 cups Colby cheese, grated

Dressing:
1 cup cilantro, rinsed, remove stems
1 cup mayonnaise
4-6 Tablespoons fresh lime
lime zest
2 tablespoons honey
sea salt
pepper
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne

For Salad:
Chop lettuce into bite size pieces. Place lettuce in large serving bowl.
If not using immediately, layer in the following order:
Lettuce
black beans
corn
peppers
green onion
avocado
tomatoes
grated cheeses

For Dressing:
Chop cilantro. Whisk together in bowl rest of ingredients, add fresh cilantro. Add more lime, honey or cayenne to taste.

Toss salad with dressing just before serving, or serve dressing on the side of salad. If serving on side, double dressing.

Tips:
-Use Romaine full heads, not Romaine hearts (Costco) You will be happier with the dark green color.
-Important to drain veggies well and spin salad til it's dry. If you take the time to do this, the salad will last for up to three days if not tossed with dressing.
-Layering in the order given will insure that the cheese won't get soggy, and the avocados will stay fresh(er) with the tomatoes layered on top. Romas, or grape tomatoes are best for this salad.
-I like the look when hand chopping part of the Cilantro for the salad. You can throw all of the ingredients into a blender or use an immersion blender to make the dressing, then chop a few tablespoons by hand to get the larger leaf look in the dressing.
-If you want more of a Taco-style salad, add some chopped chicken and chips.