This is the perfect summer salad. You can serve it as a side dish, but I prefer it as a main. It’s so light yet super filling. This is my version of the Nordstrom Cilantro Lime Chicken Salad. The dressing is one of my absolute favs. It’s slightly spicy from the chipotle peppers, with a hint of sweetness from the honey and lots of bright herby flavor from the cilantro. I love to serve this at a summer dinner party. If I know I’m not going to have much time to prepare dinner, I make the dressing and prep/cut all the ingredients ahead of time and just keep them the fridge until ready to use. Then, I just assemble the salad and serve after guests arrive.
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
- 12 cups of mixed greens
- 2 cups of shredded chicken (from rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken)
- 3 ears of corn
- 3 avocados, diced
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved and seeded
- 2 cups grated pepper jack cheese
- 2 roasted red peppers, diced
- Cilantro lime dressing (see below)
- 4 (6 inch) flour tortillas
- Seasoning salt
Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add corn and cook for 5 minutes. Remove corn and allow to cool. Once cool, cut kernels off the cob and set aside.
Slice flour tortillas into thin strips. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Drizzle with olive oil and add enough tortilla strips to cover the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring and cooking until strips being to brown and become crispy. Remove strips to a plate and continue this until all the tortilla strips are cooked. Then sprinkle with seasoning salt (I like to use Lawry’s!) and set aside.
To assemble salad, add lettuce to a large serving bowl. Then add the chicken, corn, avocados, tomatoes, cheese, roasted red peppers and tortilla strips. To avoid over dressing the salad, start by pouring about a half cup of dressing over the salad and toss. Continue adding until your desired level of dressing.
Cilantro Lime Dressing
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup lime juice (about 2 limes)
- ¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar
- 1 cup packed cilantro
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ½ tsp salt
Directions:
To make the dressing, place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
