Black Bean + Cornbread Panzanella Salad.
As you know, one of my goals in life is making fun vegetableless salads.
Or at least – salads with the least amount of vegetables possible. This guarantees that I will actually… eat them. The salads. Not the vegetables.
I guess that is sort of beyond the point then, huh? Whatevah. Not proud but… it’s the deal.
Right now I am stuck in the middle of a mexican/texmex food love affair. Then again… when am I not? I actually made this salad a few weeks ago (hence the jalepeno margs) after I got a bit overzealous with the cornbread (four batches in three days… what what) and needed to do SOMETHING with it besides just eat it. I love all sorts of panzanella salads and as usual, trashed one up a bit. Surprise surprise. What? It still has bread. And tomatoes.
Just let me be.
I sort of threw it together on a whim, what with the leftover cornbread, some extra copycat chipotle corn salsa and more of the chile lime vinaigrette that I used on last month’s tequila fajita steak salad. No no, it wasn’t a month old. Worry not. I made more.
The fact is though that this salad really got no lovin’ at all as it was mostly comprised of a miss mash of leftovers dying in my fridge and things that I didn’t want to have to deal with anymore. I loved it so much though.
…even I did have a few lettuce leaves with my cornbread croutons.
Black Bean + Cornbread Panzanella Salad
Ingredients
- 1 batch of cornbread cut into cubes
- 12 ounces of baby romaine lettuce
- 1 cup of black beans
- 1 cup of copycat chipotle corn salsa
- 1 avocado, cubed
- 1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
- salt + pepper
chile lime vinaigrette
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon red pepper or chile oil
- 2 teaspoons honey
- the juice of 2 limes
- a pinch of salt + pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spread cornbread cubes on a baking sheet. Bake for 6-7 minutes, toss, then bake for 6-8 minutes more, until golden and toasted. Set aside.
- While the cornbread is toasting, combine lettuce, tomatoes, black beans, avocado, corn salsa and cilantro in a large bowl. Season with a bit of salt and pepper and toss well to combine. Add in the cornbread croutons and toss again. Serve with chili lime vinaigrette!
chile lime vinaigrette
- Combine all ingredients in a mason jar, shaker bottle or large bowl and shake/whisk until combined.
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
I think it’s the margaritas that make it… so do that too.
93 Comments on “Black Bean + Cornbread Panzanella Salad.”
I want that chile lime vinaigrette on everything! It sounds delish! And I love the chunky bread cubes and corn and the margarita, of course!
This is my kind of salad! I love everything about it!!
I am sooo into this! Yum!
I’m with you on that Mexican/texmex kick! I don’t even know how many cans of chipotles in adobo sauce I’ve gone through in the past month. Love how bright and vibrant these photos are!
Oh I can see why you would love this salad!
This looks fantastic!!!
I adore cornbread, but have never used it panzanella-style. I think I could eat those cornbread croutons-and Chipotle’s corn salsa-on everything, include for breakfast!
This salad is beeeeeaaautiful!! Will totally be recreating it. The dressing sounds really great too!
Always looking for some great salad recipes! This one sounds fab!
I really want to sit down at that table, with that gorgeous salad and those evil jalapeno margs. Heaven!
This looks delicious! I need to try this sometime.
I need to have this salad with a side pitcher of mojito’s!! Yum this is like the perfect summer meal. Or the perfect I’ll pretend its summer meal even though is raining/snowing.
Since Mexican food is my favorite I am hoping that you stay in this mood for a LONG TIME! Bring it on Jessica!
CORNBREAD!!!!!!! I’m not sure what I like more…French toast or cornbread. Probably the later. Making this and eating with more cornbread on the side.
Looooook at thiiiiiiiiis oh my face is numb.
I think it’s a little embarassing that I’m Italian and have never tried panzanella before. What’s not to like about this?!
Oh this looks delicious! How did you manage to get the cornbread to crisp up all nicely and not fall apart? Whenever I try to cut up my recipe into smaller chunks it just crumbles. Any advice?!
it might have helped that this cornbread was totally cooled and even a few hours old? but i usually cut ours into bigger squares and it works – i think you just need to use a really sharp knife!
Just so you know, anything in a “salad” automatically becomes healthy.
This dish is pretty genius! I am always so impressed with how you can take an expected classic and completely transform it into something new. Thanks for sharing :)
Your photography is so beautiful. Looks yummy!
This is spring break wrapped into a meal!! I’ll be right over. :)
Panzanella is the best kind of salad! I’ve never thought of using cornbread in one, but it makes so much sense. Sounds DELICIOUS!
I love panzanella! It’s essentially a sandwich, but healthy since we can call it a salad!
Loooooks so so good! Cornbread! YUM!
I think that should be a rule….if you’re going to eat a salad, a margarita is mandatory.
OMG, I agree!
You make my kind of salads! Of course have a margarita, the salad totally offsets the calories!
um yum! this is all my favorite things in one bowl. can i make one suggested addition? queso fresco. life changing.
This looks so good! What a great idea! I definitely wanna try this! Did you find that the cornbread broke up a bit after you mixed it in with the salad? I know it can be really delicate.
I just want it all. All of the salad. And all of the jalapeno margs :)
I love panzanella salads and cornbread, so combining the two makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? The chile lime vinaigrette sounds terrific too. I’d definitely need a margarita on the side!
I’m obsessed with panzanella salads – one of my favorite food textures ever is chewy bread with salad. This sounds fabulous!
A great twist!
Ummmm, I am a lover of salads (no judgement) and this one makes me wanna OD on deliciousness.
I”ve never had a panzanella salad before but I can see why you love this one!
Great pictures as always- that looks like it would pair really well with a giant margarita!
Some Snapshots Blog
Jess
Just had to share this with you since you share a love of Connie Britton! :)
http://www.buzzfeed.com/kdries/16-reasons-why-everyone-loves-connie-britton
omg!
Between your margaritas and Mexican pics the other night on Instagram and this mouthwatering post, I am now officially craving Mexican food. It goes without saying I need a margarita. And you might as well throw in some of that cornbread.
Wow! This looks awesome!! Will definitely try it sometime!
Salad that has carbs on it?! Count me in.
Cornbread in my salad. You’ve done it.
These pictures are absolutely beautiful!! Wow!!!
What an awesome looking salad… love the addition of cornbread!
Oh my freakin delicious! This looks incredible, especially with a margarita. So fresh, vibrant and full of color and flavor!! I would love it topped with some local Charleston shrimp too. :) Keep the deliciousness coming!
Wondering what your plans are for the weekend….can’t wait to see your instagram eats so I can drool. ;)
Love panzanella salad of any kind. i did one a while back with farro. it was good, too! And I love grilling the vegies and the bread. And your chili lime dressing. Killer!
Um, I think this completes me.
Looks absolutely delicious! I’m a big salad-lover so you can be sure I’ll be trying this variation of the classic panzanella salad!
Thanks for sharing :)
Have a great weekend!
xo, Elisa
Totally love panzanella salads. Even more love Tex Mex. Perfect marriage.
Such a great use for leftover cornbread!
fabulous. I have some leftover cornbread I had no idea what to do with and this looks really great – springtime fresh. Just the thing to bring some sunshine into our snow filled day today!
how do you make your margarita?