Layered Cornbread Salad

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) box jiffy cornbread mix
• 1/4 cup egg beaters egg substitute or 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 16 fat free ranch dressing (or make your own 1 pkg. dry ranch salad dressing mix, 8 ounces fat-free sour cream, and 1 cup low-fa)
• 16 ounces canned pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 16 ounces cranberry beans or 16 ounces october beans
• 3 cups shredded low-fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 large ripe summer tomatoes, diced and drained or 1 pint sweet grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 3 medium spring onions, thinly sliced (optional)
• 4 ounces chopped green chilies, drained
• 15 ounces canned corn, drained
• 3 cups coarsely chopped romaine lettuce
• 1 cup frozen green pea, thawed
• 1/2 cup hormel real bacon bits (i use hormel or oscar mayer) (optional)
• 2 ounces cooked elbow macaroni (optional)
• 16 ounces black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained (optional)
• 2 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-size buds (optional)
• 2 cups diced celery (optional)
• 1 (6 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, cut in quarters (optional)
• 16 ounces kidney beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
• 16 ounces canned great northern beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
• 16 ounces canned black beans, rinsed and drained (optional)

Recipe

• 1 make cornbread and bake according to package instructions.
• 2 crumble cornbread and set aside.
• 3 if making your own salad dressing: mix all ingredients in bowl and set aside.
• 4 assemble salad as follows, forming pretty layers in order listed:.
• 5 place 1/2 of cornbread crumbles in bottom of very large serving bowl.
• 6 top with pinto beans, tomatoes (1/2 of these), corn, red and green bell peppers (1/2 of these), chilies, and cheese.
• 7 repeat layers as follows: romaine lettuce, cornbread crumbles, spring onions, green peas (uncooked), cranberry beans, and remaining red and green bell peppers.
• 8 spoon salad dressing over top of salad and spread to cover top of bowl.
• 9 sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
• 10 sprinkle cheese with tomatoes and bacon bits (optional).
• 11 tightly cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours before serving.
• 12 it's better if it sits at least 4-6 hours for flavors to blend.
• 13 play with the layers and substitute for anything you don't like-- just be sure to keep the cornbread layers and salad dressing on top.
• 14 note: if you add a lot of optional ingredients, use more salad dressing accordingly, so you have enough to lightly coat salad when it is tossed as people spoon to the bottom to get a serving.
• 15 vegetarian note: jiffy corn bread is not vegetarian due to animal shortening as a primary ingredient. use another brand that is.