Saturday, December 26, 2009

Jessica Cooks! Chicken Tex Mex Salad

I love salads.  I love the crunch of crisp vegetables, the vibrant colors (No iceberg lettuce here!)  and tangy new ways to spice them up.  
 This is one of my favorites and was inspired by a salad I had at Chili's restaurant. 

You can use any amount of the ingredients that you prefer.  It's the mix that makes it so wonderful! 







You'll need Romaine lettuce, coarsely chopped





 

Fresh Spinach, coarsely chopped



Chinese Cabbage, you guessed it...
coarsely chopped




 Roma or other nice, firm tomatoes, chopped



Green onion, chopped

 

And some Cilantro, chopped fine.
I was about out of this- so I used what I had. 


 


Mix those ingredients together and you have the main part of the salad:


Next, we'll do the chicken:

4-5  chicken breasts
 

                                                    
                                              cube them:





             And your spices for it: chili powder, crushed red peppers,
             garlic powder, salt and pepper.



Pour a bit of olive oil into your skillet. 
(My son poured a little more than I wanted, but it worked)



When your oil is hot, add  the chicken

 


Sprinkle liberally with the seasonings- 
extra on the chili powder
and Saute until done.

 



While the chicken is cooking, 
make your corn relish:

Add one can of corn to a sauce pan

  


Dice up some red bell pepper and cilantro and add it to the corn



Add a dollop of olive oil and sprinkle generously 
with pepper and coarse Kosher salt

 

 
Cook until heated through and flavors incorporated. Turn off heat.

Now we make our pico de gallo :

Chop up the same amounts of onion, tomatoes and cilantro.
Season generously with coarse kosher salt

 Mix well
 
 Unfortunately, I was running low on cilantro this time. 
More is definitely better!


 Okay, now that our salad , corn relish and pico de gallo are ready,
finish cooking the chicken and remove from heat.



Heat a small amount of olive oil in a skillet.
Cook 3-4 corn tortillas separately, until crisp but not browned.





Cool slightly on paper towel to absorb any extra oil.
Then, chop the tortillas and sprinkle liberally with coarse Kosher salt.



 


 

If you prefer, you can leave them in strips.

Now, get out some ranch dressing and barbeque sauce.
I prefer homemade or made-at-home Hidden Valley Ranch dressing
For barbeque sauce, it's gotta be Sweet Baby Ray's!

Okay, we are now ready to assemble our salad. 

On  your plate, place a heap of salad. 
On top of this add a few spoonfuls of chicken. 

Add the corn relish, pico de gallo and tortilla chips.
Top with some grated cheese, if you  like.
Then, top with a bit of ranch dressing 
and a few dobs of barbeque sauce here and there. 
Mix it in a little to incorporate the flavors.




 

 Serve with warm garlic bread and enjoy!

Another alteration would be to add diced jalapenos to the pico de gallo.
I'm not much of a jalapeno fan- but I wish I was. :0)



 
 

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