Cornbread Salad

Okay going by the name of this dish, it doesn't sound very good. Believe me! But just try it, I promise you'll be pleasantly suprised! The first time I made it, my husband refused to eat it because of the ingredients in it. I finally coaxed him into trying it the next day and now he can't get enough of it! My hubby would never eat any of these ingredients by themselves, except maybe the cheese, and now he LOVES it! I sometimes have to make it twice a week!

The recipe comes from the cookbook my Church put together. There's several different variations of the recipe in the book. I had actually never tried it until I went to a Church function and one of the ladies of the Church made it. I thought it was some type of mexican dish so I tried a little and then went back for seconds! My mom asked around and got the name of the recipe and found out that it's in our cookbook.

I of course can't leave anything alone so I've tweaked it just a little and made it my own. I'll put my add ins or changes in red beside the original recipe.


What you'll need:
1 1oz. pkg Hidden Valley Dry salad dressing mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup Mayo (I use Kraft)
1 "9" pan of cornbread (crumbled)  (I've definately made it from scratch before but it's a lot easier to buy the kind in the package where you just add water or milk, it works just as good!)

2 cans pinto beans (drained)

2 cans whole kernel corn (drained)
3 lg. tomatoes (chopped) (I put a little extra tomato, I think that's what makes the dish!)
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1/2 cup chopped green onions (I use white or purple onions and just a tad less than 1/2 cup I actually like onions and I think it's a little bit too much)
2 cups shredded chedder cheese
10 slices bacon (cooked & crumbled) (I leave this part out I just don't think it needs the bacon on it!)

What to do:

I mix the tomatoes, peppers, and onions in a bowl with a lid and let it chill a w bit while I get everything else ready. Mix the ranch dressing mix, sour cream and mayo in a bowl and set aside. Place half the cornbread in the bottom of a large bowl. Top with half of the beans, then the tomato, onion. pepper mixture. Then layer half the corn, ranch mixture, and then half the cheese. (If you use the bacon, it would go on top of the cheese I guess) Repeat using the second half of the ingredients. Cover and chill 2-3 hours before serving. My hubby wont wait that long, he eats it as soon as I get it made which tastes fine too! It does taste better chilled or even the next day if you can wait that long.

My add ins:

For the cornbread, when I use the kind in the packs, I like to use the buttermilk or the mexican mix. The mexican tastes better with it I think. It gives it a little bit of a southwestern flavor.

I peel the outside of the cornbread off, where it gets a little hard from being cooked, and just use the softer part on the inside. If you leave all that on there, it makes the salad a little tough. You don't have to do it I just do if it gets a little to chewy.

I like to use fresh bannana peppers in it too.

I have often thought about using black beans instead of pinto beans. I haven't tried it yet so if you do, let me know how you like it!

This recipe is so versitile, you can throw in anything you want to. I've used the shredded 4 cheese mexican style cheese, red peppers along with the green bell peppers, you name it. If you think something might taste good in it, toss it in! I don't think you could mess up this dish!

It would make a great side dish but it's also a meal in itself. We usually just eat it as a whole meal.

Even if you don't think you'll like, try it. It's better than the name implies! You can't really even taste the cornbread. Take it from me, I don't really like cornbread but I love this! You really mostly taste the ranch, cheese, tomatoes, and corn. You can't taste the rest all that much.

Be sure to leave the link to your Tasy Tuesday post or any recipe post you'd like to share!