THE COWBOY BOWL

This Tex-Mex chop salad creation with barbecue sauce is one of my all time favorites. I got the idea, oddly enough, from a tiny vegan Thai restaurant in West Hollywood called Vegan Glory. (That place is amazing by the way.) Since that would be like a 40 minute drive from my house, I decided I had to recreate it for myself. You can use Beyond Meat Chicken, or tempeh, or skip the faux meat altogether. Did you know barbecue sauce makes for an awesome salad dressing? It really does. Especially if you use homemade barbecue sauce. Below you will also find a recipe for fresh Pico De Gallo.

The Cowboy Bowl

makes 2 servings

6 thin slices of white onion

a few strips of Beyond Meat Chicken, or a couple ounces of tempeh, chopped

1/2 cup + 2 tbs Barbecue Sauce

1 crisp romaine heart, finely shredded

1/2 c shredded green cabbage

1/2 of an avocado, sliced

1/2 cup black beans

1/3 cup organic corn (if frozen, just throw it in a bowl with some warm water while preparing everything else)

Pico de Gallo

2 tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup white onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 sprig cilantro, chopped

1/2 of a green jalapeno, minced

1 splash apple cider vinegar

a pinch of coriander

a pinch of salt

In a lightly oiled frying pan, add the white onions and cook over medium for a few minutes, flipping occasionally till they develop some good color and soften. Remove from pan and set aside. Toss your protein of choice in the 2 tbs of barbecue sauce.

Add the protein to the frying pan and cook over medium for a few minutes, until then are heated through. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine all of the Pico de Gallo ingredients and toss to combine. (you will probably have some left over after this.)

In big salad bowls, combine the shredded romaine and cabbage. (the finer the shred, the better.) Sprinkle on the black beans and corn, layer on the sliced avocados. Add the grilled onions and protein, and add a couple big scoops of Pico De Gallo on top. Top it off with the barbecue sauce for salad dressing and dig in!

Some other options might be: corn tortilla chips, some shredded almond cheese, pickled jalapenos, or a little hot sauce.