Sante Fe Chicken Salad

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 Meats2U Santa Fe chicken breasts
  • 3 ears of sweet yellow or white corn
  • 2 heads of romaine lettuce (or equivalent of your favorite blend; approx. 3 c. per serving)
  • 1 c. shredded red cabbage
  • 1 – 15 oz. can black beans or red kidney beans, drained
  • 3 Roma tomatoes
  • 3 green onions, chopped
  • 2 avocados, ripe but still firm, coarsely chopped
  • 1 or 2 fresh jalapeno, deseeded and minced
  • 1/3 sliced Bermuda onion
  • ½ orange bell pepper, sliced in strips (for grilling)
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro, thickest stems removed, loosely chopped
  • 1 c. crumbled Cotija cheese
  • 1 package of multi-colored (thin-cut) tortilla strips

DIRECTIONS

  • 1/3 c. plus 1 Tbsp. mayonnaise
  • ¼ c. olive oil
  • 1 large clove finely chopped garlic
  • ½ tsp. cumin
  • 1 c. juice from fresh oranges (4 to 5)
  • 3 Tbs. freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbs. sugar
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. black pepper

Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until smooth. May refrigerate for up to one week. (makes a great marinade for our Mahi Mahi!)

Tear romaine lettuce into large salad bowl. Refrigerate until ready to plate.

Grill corn and bell pepper until crunch/tender and grill marked. Remove all from grill and let ears cool until kernels can be cut off the cob. Coarsely chop peppers and add to a medium sized mixing bowl with the corn kernels. Set aside.

Grill Santa Fe seasoned chicken breasts on medium high heat about 3 to 3 ½ minutes on each side over medium-high flame. Remove from grill, cover with foil and let rest.

Add the cabbage, beans, green onions, bell pepper and jalapeno to the corn mixture and toss with about 1 cup of the citrus dressing. Add the chopped avocado and toss gently. Add salt and pepper to taste. Slice the Roma tomatoes and avocados into wedges and halve the Bermuda onion slices. Set aside.

Divide lettuce onto plates. Arrange 3 – 1/3 cup mounds of corn mixture on top of lettuce in the center of each plate. Arrange avocado, tomato and Bermuda onion slices around mounds. Sprinkle each salad with cilantro, tortilla strips and Cotija cheese. Cut chicken breasts diagonally against the grain in ½ inch thick slices and divide evenly on salads around veggie mixture. Serve with remaining salad dressing on the side.

A glass of Zinfandel goes nicely with this salad!

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