We love this Mexican grilled chicken salad. It’s fairly easy for a weeknight and definitely a healthy choice, it’s become part of our normal dinner rotation. The tomatoes and corn from our local farms have been so delicious this summer and they usually have a nice array of peppers too. Now is the time to make this!
To help with your weeknight dinner planning, you could grill-up a double batch of boneless chicken breasts using your favorite BBQ rub or mine (All Purpose Red Rub). Make chicken fajitas the first night using half of the chicken breasts, and then use the left over grilled chicken for this salad. You could also substitute steak or shrimp, or use an assortment of different grilled vegetables to make it vegetarian.
Quantities in the ingredients list below are a bit loosey goosey. I generally take the biggest platter we have and fill it up. Three of us eat most of it, with enough left over for a couple of lunch size portions. Not very precise, but you can’t really mess this one up. Just use any combination of the ingredients listed below that you love, and serve it with the dressing on the side… voilà! Or shall I say Olé?
INGREDIENTS
- 1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1- 15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- About a cup of shredded carrots (or more if you like)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1-2 cups of corn (fresh or frozen)
- 1-2 grilled red bell peppers, seeded and skins removed – sliced in strips
- 1-2 grilled poblano peppers, seeded and skins removed – sliced in strips
- 1 large grilled jalapeño pepper, seeded and skin removed – sliced in thin strips
- 1 bunch of scallions, ends trimmed and grilled whole
- 2 avocados, diced
- Fresh lime wedges
- Cooked BBQ boneless chicken breasts (1 per person)***
Place the chopped romaine lettuce on the bottom of the platter and pile all the other ingredients on top.
For the dressing… this is very complicated so pay close attention:
- 1 cup of your favorite salsa
- 1 cup of sour cream (I use light)
- A few shakes of your favorite hot sauce (optional)
- 1/4 of a fresh squeezed lime
- Pinch of kosher salt and pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and serve on the side with the salad. So easy! If you’re lucky, your container of sour cream or salsa will only be half full and you can just add the other ingredients right to the container and shake it up. Fancy schmancy stuff!
Crushed tortilla chips are a delicious final topping. Yum!
*** To make the chicken: pound each breast to an even thickness. Not thin, just even them out. Sprinkle each breast liberally with BBQ rub and grill until properly cooked through to 165 degrees.
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