Cilantro Lime Chicken Taco Salad
Try this Cilantro Lime Chicken Taco Salad recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Cilantro Lime Chicken Taco Salad recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- dressing
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved or quartered
- 1 large head of romaine lettuce chopped
- 1 cup black beans drained and rinsed
- corn from 2 ears sweet corn raw
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese finely grated
- 2 avocados chopped
- tortilla chips to taste strips or slightly crushed
- 3 tablespoons sugar start with less, add to taste
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream may sub with yogurt
- 1 tablespoon reserved cilantro lime marinade in directions
- Carbohydrate 19.4257749748231 g
- Cholesterol 17.8531250053283 mg
- Fat 17.9023663604365 g
- Fiber 8.07499951702288 g
- Protein 8.05057743019232 g
- Saturated Fat 4.84459287459944 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (209g)
- Sodium 2013.16599401025 mg
- Sugar 11.3507754578003 g
- Trans Fat 3.70852199179525 g
- Calories 260 calories
Step-by-step
- Prepare cilantro lime chicken according to directions, reserving 1 tablespoon marinade for dressing. Slice or chop cooked chicken.
- Meanwhile whisk all of the dressing ingredients together in a medium bowl, including the 1 tablespoon of reserved cilantro lime marinade. Store in refrigerator. Best if at least chilled for 30 minutes. May keep in an airtight container up to 7 days.
- To assemble, add the salad ingredients to a large bowl and toss to combine. Drizzle individual servings with desired amount of dressing.
- Season with additional salt, pepper, hot sauce, and or lime juice to taste. (For more of a vinaigrette, you may substitute the mayo and sour cream for canola oil.)
Substituting canola oil for the mayonnaise and sour cream alters this dressing from a creamy emulsion into a sharp, thin vinaigrette that coats sturdy greens differently. Working in a compact kitchen requires strategic vessel management, so whisk the dressing directly in a four-cup glass measuring cup to minimize bowl cleanup. Red wine vinegar provides a high acid baseline that requires precise sugar balancing; whisk the initial three tablespoons thoroughly before tasting. Emulsifying ketchup, vinegar, mayonnaise, and sour cream together demands vigorous wire whisk movement to prevent oil separation. Chilling this mixture for at least thirty minutes in the refrigerator thickens the dairy fats and allows the reserved cilantro lime marinade to penetrate the base. Cooked chicken must be sliced or chopped only after resting on a cutting board until internal juices redistribute fully, preventing soggy greens upon assembly. Visual doneness for poultry relies on piercing the thickest portion and checking that juices run completely clear rather than pink. Raw sweet corn cut fresh from two ears introduces a distinct textural crunch that canned varieties lack. Rinse black beans thoroughly in a fine-mesh sieve under cold running water to eliminate starchy canning liquid that dulls the dressing flavors. Finely grating a half cup of sharp cheddar cheese on the smallest microplane holes ensures the dairy distributes evenly across every bite rather than clumping in heavy pockets. Toss the chopped romaine lettuce, halved cherry tomatoes, black beans, corn, diced avocados, and crushed tortilla chips in a wide wooden bowl just before service. Drizzle individual portions rather than dressing the entire mass at once to maintain crispness if leftovers are expected. Stored in an airtight container, the prepared dressing remains fresh for up to seven days without breaking its suspension.
