A huge, filling salad full of tasty toppings like avocado, black beans, homemade tortilla chips, and salsa-ranch dressing
Like my lazy pantry dinner, this one is easily adaptable to whatever you have in your kitchen. No red bell peppers? Leave 'em out. Want to add some corn? By all means, go right ahead; it's your salad.
Here is the basic recipe for one of my favorite salads.
Mexican Chicken Salad
A huge, filling salad full of tasty toppings like avocado, black beans, homemade tortilla chips, and salsa-ranch dressing
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Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon olive oil divided
- 3 small corn tortillas
- ¾ teaspoon chili powder divided
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ½ cup salsa
- ¼ cup Ranch dressing
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 lb chicken breast chopped or use tenders
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 ½ cups bell pepper I used red, green, and yellow, chopped
- ¼ cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
- 15 ounce can reduced-sodium black beans drained and well-rinsed
- 2 Romaine hearts chopped
- 1 avocado diced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the tortillas into small triangles. Rub both sides with 1 teaspoon of oil and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon chili powder. Make sure every chip is well coated. Put chips on a baking sheet, and bake 7-10 minutes in the preheated oven until they are golden and pretty crispy. Allow chips to cool completely on baking sheet. They will get crispier.
- In a small bowl, combine salsa and ranch dressing. Set aside.
- Sprinkle cumin, kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon of chili powder on chicken. Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes per side. Remove chicken.
- Add onion and bell peppers to skillet. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring often. Add chicken broth & remaining ¼ teaspoon chili powder to the pan, and scrape any bits of chicken off the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow mixture to simmer for about 5-10 minutes until the broth has reduced by about half.
- Add the black beans to the pan and stir well. Cook another 5 minutes. Return chicken to the pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, stir together Ranch dressing and salsa.
- Serve the mixture over chopped Romaine hearts and top with salsa and Ranch dressing mixture. Sprinkle with homemade chips and avocado.
Notes
*Optional toppings: cheese, plain yogurt (instead of sour cream), cooked corn
*For a vegetarian version, omit the chicken and use 2 (15 oz) cans black beans instead of one.
Did you try this recipe?Be sure to leave a comment & recipe rating below. Bonus points for tagging @memeinge & #livingwellkitchen on Instagram! THANK YOU! xo
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