Cilantro Lime Chicken Salad

Cilantro Lime Chicken Salad

Recipes

We love a picnic! Pack up a delicious meal, grab your favorite Way Better Chips and a frisbee and head to your local park for some fun with friends and family. While you can always make a big salad to share, we put our scrumptious Cilantro Lime Chicken Salad in canning jars so everyone at our picnic could have their own serving. Layer the salad in the order indicated to keep all the ingredients fresh and crisp. When you’re ready to eat, pour your salad onto a plate and mix or simply mix the salad with a fork in the jar and eat. We pair this flavorful salad with Way Better Simply Sweet Chili Tortilla Chips and berries. While this salad may seem daunting with three separate components, each part comes together quickly so you can get out of the kitchen and out the door quickly. If you prefer, make each part of the salad a day or two before you need it. Store each part covered separately in the refrigerator so the salad is ready to be assembled when you are ready to go. Enjoy!

Ingredients

For Chicken:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound boneless skinless chicken, sliced

1 teaspoons dried minced onion

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon crushed, dried red pepper flakes, optional

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon lime juice

For Bean and Corn Salsa:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed well

1 cup frozen sweet corn, thawed

2 plum tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup minced red onion or shallot

1/3 cup fresh minced cilantro

1/2 small jalepeno, seeds removed and finely minced

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste

Mix all ingredients together, cover and chill.

For Avocado Cilantro Ranch Dressing:

1 avocado, peeled and pitted

3/4 cup real mayonnaise

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon dry minced onion

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons lime juice

3/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

2- 3 tablespoons milk or dairy free milk substitute, as needed

For Salad:

2 cups mixed chopped vegetables of choice

4 cups crisp chopped lettuce

Preparation

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan, sprinkling onion, cumin, chili powder, salt, oregano, pepper flakes, and garlic powder over chicken. Sauté until chicken is cooked through. Turn off heat. Add lime juice to chicken and stir. Allow chicken to cool in a covered container in refrigerator.

In a blender mix avocado, mayonnaise, parsley, onion, garlic, basil, salt, black pepper, and lime juice until smooth. Stir in cilantro. Stir enough milk into dressing to create the thickness you prefer. Cover dressing and chill in refrigerator.

Assemble salad:

In 4 wide mouth canning jars or other portable containers, place desired amount of Avocado Cilantro Ranch Dressing in bottom of container, about 2 to 3 tablespoons.

Chop or shred chicken. Divide chicken evenly between the 4 containers.

Add 1/2 cup of your favorite fresh chopped vegetables to each jar. We used sweet bell peppers and sliced cucumbers.

Scoop 1/3 to 1/2 cup Black Bean and Corn Salsa into each jar..

Fill remaining jar with chopped crisp lettuce. We used romaine. Seal jar or portable container and chill until packing into picnic cooler. Serve with Way Better Simply Sweet Chili Tortilla Chips on the side or crumbled right in the salad for an extra crunchy treat.