We had the most delicious and refreshing salad when we traveled to Albuquerque and ate at the restaurant Paloma! Here’s my take on the salad. 

Serves 2

Ingredients 

• 1 small head of Romaine lettuce, cleaned and chopped 
• 4 heads of Little Gem lettuce, clean and chopped
• 1 English cucumber, deseeded and diced 
• 2 Roma tomatoes, deseeded and diced 
• Half a red onion, thinly sliced
• About a cup of frozen corn or two ears of fresh corn to make roasted corn 
• One to tortillas (depending on size) to make tortilla strips
• Butter, 1 to 2 tablespoons 
• Grapeseed or vegetable oil, 1 to 2 tablespoons plus more for the vinaigrette 
• Lime vinaigrette, recipe below

Directions  

1. Prepare the crispy tortilla chips and roasted corn. For the crispy tortilla strips, cut flour tortillas cut into strips. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add a tablespoon or two of oil. Once hot, add the tortilla strips and keep cooking until nice and golden brown and crispy, stirring often. Remove from heat and place on a plate lined with paper towels. Season with salt to taste. 
2. To make the roasted corn, add the butter to a skillet over medium heat. Add the fresh or frozen corn and sauté for a couple of minutes. Season with salt to taste. 
3. Clean and wash your lettuce. 
4. Make the lime vinaigrette and then add it to a bowl with the lettuce, cucumber, tomato, red onion, and corn and toss really well with some of the vinaigrette. Keep adding more until it’s dressed to your liking. Taste and adjust salt and lime. Right before serving add the tortilla chips so that they stay nice and crispy. 

Note: I’ve also added avocado or black beans to make it more substantial! 

Lime vinaigrette 

• 2 to 3 limes, or more to taste 
• Grapeseed oil, can substitute any neutral oil 
• Kosher salt 
• A pinch of sugar 

Directions

1. Squeeze the juice of two limes into a small bowl. Add a generous pinch of salt. We like a dressing that is equal parts lime juice to oil so I added an equal amount of oil to the lime juice. Whisk vigorously and then add a pinch of sugar. Whisk again and then taste the dressing with a piece of lettuce. I usually find it needs more salt. 

Notes:

• LIMES: If your limes aren’t that juicy you may need a third lime! If they are really juicy you may only need 1 and 1/2.