Mexican Mixed Grilled Chicken Salad with Kale and a Honey Lime Dressing
We have a new favorite salad in the Pottinger home y'all.
You heard me right. This is my new favorite salad. Truly, madly deeply in love with this nutrient rich salad. Grilled chicken, kale, grilled corn, grilled tomato, grilled zucchini, avocado, feta and a Honey Lime Dressing. I know that may sound like a lot. But I just took a skewer and violently stabbed all of the vegetables like the dirty bastards that they are. No, but really, I just skewered them and drizzled some olive oil and salt. The flavor will come in the dressing, so they do not need much. I recently tried out this Ancho Chile Brown Sugar Dry Rub and fell in love with my creation as well. Lets just say there a whole lot of things I love about this salad. And assuming your're a person with taste buds, then you will too. If you do not fall into that category, it then leads me to wonder what you are doing on my food blog in the first place. I am prone to rambling and unfunny jokes. And now my Will Farrell GIF is standing me up with that sexy dancing. lol.
Back to salads. Or more specifically this salad. It is salad perfection. I am someone who enjoys kale in salads. But if if you are someone who is hesitant to eat this leafy green, it fits perfectly into this dish without being too over powering. The acidity in the dressing breaks down the leaves just the slightest amount. The grilled vegetables add a natural sweetness and a variety of texture. This chicken is awesome sauce. It should have its own post. Oh wait, it does. And salty, tangy feta and creamy avocado round out this flavor bomb of a salad. It is one of those meals where every flavor works together in harmony while still maintaining each elements' individual flavors.
And looking at it is also fun. We all enjoy looking at pretty things. Right? No? Once again, why are you on my blog?!?! Pretty girl (me), pretty food (made, photographed and written up by me) and literary genius are what Caviar and Crayons is all about. Okay, two out of three isn't bad. I may not be batting 1000, but this salad is. . Can't win them all!
There are a few links for this recipe; my Ancho Chile Brown Sugar Rub for the grilled chicken and the Honey Lime Salad Dressing. How many pieces of chicken you are in need of is up to you. And the recipe for the dressing makes a Mason Jar's worth. It will be good for up to 3 weeks in your refrigerator. Otherwise the rest of the ingredients are just kind of based off of personal preference. Don't like tomatoes? You could skewer some onions. I just so happened to have 2 zucchinis and some grape tomatoes in my refrigerator. I was originally just going to grill corn. I am glad I added them for sure. But if you're confident enough in your food knowledge to make basic substitutions, then by all means, be my guest. :) So assuming you want to make 6 salads or so, you can follow my quantities for zucchini, tomatoes, corn, avocados and feta. I would also suggest 1 -2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs per salad.
This will make a mason Jar's worth of dry rub. And I have already ran out I loved it so much. I would do 1-2 boneless skinless chicken thighs per salad. I prefer the thighs to the breasts (chicken, not real life), but of course you could use breasts if that were your preference.
I did this recipe when I was attempting clean eating. Obviously a Paleo Sriracha is not necessary. Regular Sriracha will be just fine, thank you. This dressing makes a few cups. You will most likely have extra. But it will keep just fine in your fridge for up to 3 weeks as long as you have it in some sort of lidded container or Mason Jar.
Other Ingredients/Instructions:
2 bushels of kale
1-2 zucchinis
1/2 pint of grape tomatoes
3-4 ears of corn
2 avocados
feta, 2 tbsp/salad
olive oil and salt for grilled veggies
1-2 cups cilantro (semi optional)
1. Prepare your chicken and your salad dressing. I grilled my chicken with my veggies, but however you want to do this is fine. :)
2. To grill your vegetables, cut the zucchini so that it is in 1" wedges/chunks/pieces, etc.
3. Add cut zucchini and tomatoes to skewers and lightly drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
4. Lightly drizzle your corn with olive oil and sprinkle with salt as well.
5. Add them to your grill and cook until they have grill marks on them. I cooked mine roughly 5 minutes per side.
6. While your veggies/meat are cooking, prepare the kale. I like to discard the hearty stems entirely, but this is up to you. Then I just tear mine by hand and add it to a large mixing bowl.
7. Dice your avocado.
8. After your chicken has cooled, lets go ahead and dice that as well.
9. Carefully cut the kernels off of your corn cob.
10. Plate each salad with 1-2 cups of torn kale, diced chicken, zucchini, tomatoes, corn kernels, diced avocado, a few tbsp of feta and dressing. I like to let my salad sit for 10-15 minutes, after the dressing is tossed, before I serve it. This allows the acidity from the dressing to tenderize the kale a bit.