32. Santa Fe Grilled Chicken Salad

This salad is a bit of a copycat salad of one of my faves from Cheesecake Factory.  If you’ve ever ordered it, you know it’s a wonderful salad with romaine, tomatoes, black beans, fresh corn, pepper jack cheese and grilled chicken.  But the thing that pushes that salad over the top is the two different dressings they use:  a cilantro dressing and a spicy thai dressing.  Combined, they’re out of this world.

I’ve made a passable version of this salad at home with Trader Joe’s cilantro and spicy Thai bottled dressings.  But I haven’t wanted to put it in my blog for the same reason:  bottled dressings.

Last night, after making that fabulous Mexican Caesar Salad, I realized that I had 50% of what I needed to make the Santa Fe salad--a big, leftover 1/2 quart of delicious homemade cilantro dressing.  So I got busy and found the perfect spicy Thai peanut dressing.  You’re welcome.

This is a really yummy, very hearty salad.   I could eat it for lunch every day.  Store the leftover dressings in airtight containers in your fridge and use them on other salads (or this one, over and over again....)--they’re delicious and obviously fresher than what you’ll find in a bottle.  

Ingredients

1 romaine heart

1 Tbsp chopped cilantro

1 tomato, chopped

1/4 red onion, chopped

1 ear of corn, cut off the cob

1/4 cup black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup grated pepper jack cheese

1/2 avocado, sliced

3 grilled chicken tenders (or 1 chicken breast)

Cilantro Dressing

2 medium Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded

1/3 cup green pepitas, roasted 

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

8 oz light olive oil or other mild salad oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

5 Tbsp grated Cotija cheese 

2 medium bunches of cilantro

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup water

Thai Peanut Dressing

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 Tbsp fresh lime juice (one lime)

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp soy sauce (Tamari, if you want to keep it gluten free)

2 Tbsp honey

2 1/2 Tbsp sugar

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1” square fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

Make the dressings, the cilantro dressing first.  Roast the chiles.  I’ll admit I was winging it a bit here.  I coated them lightly in olive oil, set them on a cookie sheet in a 450〫oven, and let the heat do the rest.  Check on them after 10 minutes; you’ll notice that the outer skin is starting to blister and turn brown.  Rotate them and leave them for another 10 minutes.  They should be golden to dark brown in color.  Remove them from the oven, and if you have time, set them aside.  I was in a hurry to get the dressing done so I put the hot peppers in ice water, which worked great.  Peel the blistered skin off the outside, trim off the tops and remove the seeds.  

While your chiles are in the oven, roast your pepitas.  You can easily do this on the stove top.  Add green pepitas to a heavy, hot skillet.  They’ll start to pop almost right away.  You want to flip them regularly so they don’t burn.  You’re going for an overall golden color.  When you get them to that point, remove from the heat and from the pan so they stop cooking.

Place all of the dressing ingredients except cilantro, mayonnaise and water in a food processor.  Process well until it looks combined and uniform.  Then, add the cilantro, 1/3 at a time, and process each addition until it’s smooth.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and the water until smooth.  Then add it to the food processor with the rest of dressing and pulse until well combined.

Transfer the dressing into a quart jar and refrigerate.

Now make the peanut dressing.  Put all of the ingredients except for the cilantro into a blender and process until completely smooth.  Add the cilantro and blend for a few seconds, until the cilantro is finely chopped.

Finally, assemble the salad.  Use a large plate or shallow bowl.  Start with the romaine, then sprinkle with cilantro.  Then distribute the tomatoes and onions.  Give the corn, black beans and pepper jack their own area, one-third of the plate each.  Top with chicken and sliced avocado.  Serve with the two dressing combined.  

Makes 2 lunch servings

Thanks to Jenn Segal, Once Upon a Chef for her Thai Peanut Dressing recipe.