Sarah Wally: Hi! I'm Sarah Wally, a registered dietitian with the Association for Dressings & Sauces, and today I'm going to teach you how to make a delicious Tex-Mex Cobb Salad.

Now the nutritional profile of your salad really depends on what ingredients you choose. So the specific vitamins and minerals, the phytonutrients and the amount of fiber that your salad provides is really going to vary from recipe-to-recipe.

So to get started today we have three-quarters of a cup of ranch dressing, one-quarter of a cup of hickory barbecue sauce, three tablespoons of chopped cilantro, one tablespoon of lime juice, one teaspoon of minced chipotle chili and adobo sauce, eight cups of shredded romaine lettuce, one avocado that's been peeled and diced, one-and-a-half cups of cooked corn kernels, a 15 ounce can of black beans that's been rinsed and drained, one-and-a-half cups of grilled chicken breast that's been diced, one-and-a-half cups of grated tomatoes, a half cup of pepper jack cheese, shredded, a-third of a cup of sliced onion, four strips of cooked bacon that's been cut into half inch pieces and some tortilla chips for garnish.

So now we're going to make our dressing mixture. I'm going to start by adding a ranch dressing, to that I'm going to add our hickory barbecue sauce, our chipotle chilies, our cilantro, and our lime juice, and mix that up really. Now research has shown that most Americans are not meeting recommended daily intake for key nutrient, but salad eaters tend to have higher intakes and certain essential vitamins like Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Folie.

So now we have our large serving platter, we're going to arrange our lettuce on top of that and across the spat of lettuce we're going to arrange our remaining ingredients in strips. First we have the chopped onions, our beans; I'm going to add our cherry tomatoes, nice pop of color, our diced avocados, our corn, our chicken and then finally our shredded cheese. I'm going to top with our bacon and now we're going drizzle our salad dressing on top.

Now topping a salad with your favorite dressing is actually a nice way to increase the nutrient value of your salad. The healthy oils that are found in many salad dressings actually help your body to better absorb certain key nutrients like some of the antioxidants that are found in vegetables and fruits.

Okay, in the final step we're just going to finish this salad off by garnishing with some tortilla chips and then you're ready to serve.

Now eating a salad a day paired with your favorite salad dressing is an easy way to add valuable nutrients to your diet. Nutrients that protect your health and may help ward against disease. For more creative salad ideas visit saladaday.

org.