Southwest Chicken Salad

I found this recipe in a favorite cooking magazine while standing in line at the grocery store.  I bought the whole magazine for just this recipe.  Over the years, I’ve tweaked it & simplified it, but the taste is still heavenly!

This recipe is inspired from

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/southwestern-grilled-chicken-salad-tomato-black-bean-salsa.aspx.  

If you prefer grilling or using the long, hard, messy directions, please go to the original.  They make a beautiful, layered salad, where mine (below) is chopped, mixed, and quickly ready to feed a family.

Chicken:

boneless skinless chicken breast - how much you need depends on how many people you are feeding

Sprinkle of each:

     chili powder

     coriander

     cumin

     salt

     pepper

     powdered onion

     powdered garlic

brown sugar

Salad:

This will feed up to four - if you are feeding more people, increase the measured ingredients

6 Tbs. olive oil

2-3. fresh limes, juiced - I like one lime/person

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

2 tsp. honey - if it is "whipped" or crystallized, put a spoonful in a mug & warm in the microwave (only heat for 10-15 seconds at a time!!) or over a pan of hot water (put the mug in the water & the honey will melt - takes about 15 minutes)

salt & pepper

a few shakes of Green Tabasco sauce

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

tomato, chopped - use whatever you have on hand

1 large scallion, thinly sliced (I almost never have this on hand, so I skip it)

Lettuce - use whatever you have or like - the idea is to make it yummy

Toppings:

1 avocado for each person - or less, if you don't love it as much as I do

nuts - again, use what you have &/or like.  the original recipe calls for pine nuts, but I never use them fast enough, so substitute almonds instead

Instructions:

Chicken:  I usually use chicken straight from the freezer, but fresh is fine too.  Lay out your chicken on a clean counter or plate.  On one side, sprinkle to taste with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, coriander, and cumin.  Preheat a frying pan and add olive oil, then chicken, spices down.  Now add the same spices to the top side of the chicken.  Cover & let the cooking also defrost.  Turn the chicken when it starts to brown.

When the chicken is about 1/2 cooked through, pull it out and cut it into bite-size pieces.  Return to the pan to finish cooking.  When the chicken is all cut up, I typically cover it again & turn the heat down or off, depending on how much more cooking it needs to do.

Just before you add it to the salad, sprinkle a teaspoon of brown sugar over it & stir.

Salad:  In a large "bread bowl", stir together the olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, honey, S&P, Tabasco sauce, black beans, tomato, scallion, & lettuce.  Turn out into large salad bowls.

Top with chicken, avocado, & nuts.