Southwestern Mesquite Chicken Salad

One of our favorite old 'standbys' for lunch is Chili's. When we can't decide on a place to eat, we usually end up at the one around the corner from our home. I usually alternate between to two or three of my favorite items on the menu; One of which is their Mesquite chicken salad. It's so good,. . . yet so deceiving, because although one may think of a salad as being a healthy choice, this one, deceptively, is not...lol .

810 Calories (1050 with the side of ranch dressing)--but it's SO darn good!

Do you have a restaurant fave that you like to mimic at home? Please share here:

What is it? - "Grilled mesquite chicken breast, applewood smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, pico de gallo, corn relish, cilantro, crispy tortilla strips and a touch of BBQ sauce. Served with Jalapeno Ranch dressing." -.

Mouth watering yet?

It's good stuff...so occasionally I make 'my version' of it at home for dinner and have leftovers for a couple of days. Here's how:

Ingredients: (serves 4)

4 chicken breasts

2 tbsp Mesquite seasoning

1/2 tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp fresh cracked pepper

1 3/4 cups yellow corn (frozen, canned or cut off the ear is fine)

1 1/2 cups black beans (rinsed and drained)

1/2 red onion

1 cup of fresh cilantro leaves

2 cups Mesquite barbecue sauce of your choice

2 cups Colby-Jack or Jalapeno-Jack cheese (shredded)

1 bag of Blue and White crunchy tortilla strips (or chips)

1 head of romaine lettuce

Optional items: pico de gallo, fresh lime wedge for garnish, jalapeno ranch dressing

Directions:

Prepare romaine lettuce my chopping edible sized portions into a bowl and set aside.

Season chicken breasts with mesquite seasoning and pepper. Grill for 6 to 8 minutes on each side at 375 degrees.

Once done, slice chicken breasts and set aside.

Prepare corn: (if canned, rinse and drain; If frozen, thaw; If fresh, cut off of ear as shown below:)

Add corn to large skillet.

Add black beans to skillet with corn....

Dice red onion and add to corn/bean mixture.

Add ground cumin and a pinch of salt and pepper to mixture. Cook on medium setting until mixture is desired temperature throughout. Turn heat off, and set aside.

Take tortilla strips (or chips ) and very lightly crush them into small pieces.

Now time to make our salad!

Place a handful of the chopped romaine lettuce on a plate or in a shallow salad bowl.

Add cheese...

Add desired amount of the corn, bean and onion salsa mixture ...

Add crushed tortilla chips (or tortilla strips).

Top off salad with sliced, grilled chicken breast, and generously coat chicken with mesquite barbecue sauce (optional) with a pastry brush or small sauce mop.

Garnish with cilantro leaves and enjoy!!!

New York Strip with Baja Slaw

I've been wanting to do the Baja slaw for a while.  I got the idea from a local favorite restaurant. They no longer serve the baja slaw, so I was very sad to see it go, however I feel this is  the perfect opportunity to perfect my own.   Let's just say this is a slight variation or twist on 'their' recipe ;)  I think this slaw is very versitile-by itself,  as a side dish, as a salad, or used as a garnish if you'd like.

Sherry Berry's Baja Slaw

1/2 red cabbage

1/2 green cabbage

1 red onion

2 1/2 carrots

3/4 cup of fresh cilantro

1/2 jicama root, julienned (optional)

Directions: 

Coarsely chop the  red and green cabbage.  

Cut up the red onion, . . . 

  

Grate the carrots, . . . 

and cut (or chop) the cilantro.  

Toss all ingredients in a large bowl.

Toss in a cranberry orange (or similar) vinaigrette dressing.  I used about a 1/4 cup. 

For a shortcut,  I used this one by Organicville  but you can also use the recipe shown below*:

Let slaw sit in fridge for about ten minutes for flavors to settle. 

This Baja slaw is a  delicious pair with a steak, grilled chicken or barbecue (ribs, sausage, brisket, etc.)  and has quickly become a summer grilling accomplice, so this may not be the last time you see the slaw, or variations of it in this blog. 

Now let's get to grillin'!

1. Pick a nice cut of meat- (below are my recommendations, but I chose a NY strip this time.)

• Steak:   Porterhouse, flank, filet mignon, strip, tenderloin, bone-in ribeye or a T-bone.
• Chicken:  Grilled or smoked chicken quarters, drumsticks, breasts, or thigh filets.
• Fish:  Grilled salmon, halibut, sole, seabass, tuna steak, or snapper.

2.  Marinate meat overnight.  I chose to use a McCormicks Grill Mates steak seasoning, but you may use onion powder, chopped garlic gloves, and pepper in lieu of prepared seasoning.  I rubbed the marinade over the steaks, and poured a 1/2 cup of vinegar over them and let sit overnight covered in the fridge.  You can marinate for as little as 30 minutes if you wish;  Just allow time for the flavors to marry.  Puncture the steak(s) with a fork many times on each side (50-60 punctures on each side will suffice.)

 

3.  Heat the grill to 375, and grill steak(s) for 7-10 minutes on each side.  For desired internal tempertures, depending on how you want your steak prepared, you may use a meat thermometer.  You may also baste the steaks with a steak sauce after flipping each side. 

4.  Once steaks are done, serve with a side of Baja slaw, and you're ready for a backyard barbecue (or dinner party indoors- where there's no mosquitos...lol)

*Cranberry Orange Vinaigrette

• 1/4 cup cranberry juice concentrate
  1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
  1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  1/4 cup olive oil
  1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  1/2 teaspoon pepper
  

Combine all ingredients in a jar, shake well, and pour over salad (or slaw in this case).   Refridgerate for up to five days.  Always shake well before serving.