Chopped Salad and Homemade Dressing

I have been eating like a pig lately.  I mean, it doesn't bother me too much because I just love food.  Yes, I've got my warm winter padding on my body all year, but I'll keep my brownies and you can have the bikini :)  But still, I like my jeans and the way they fit so I will cut back on the onion rings for a few days.

Maybe.

When I stumbled upon the recipe for a chopped salad, I thought, "Hot damn, nothing better than a Portillos chopped salad."  Even better, this one was a southwestern chopped salad!  I was a little skeptical on this one, to be honest.  Salads can really easily be bland and not very filling, and I love me some good flavor.  But, we had most of the ingredients already and had to go to the grocery store anyway, so picking up the last few ingredients was easy.

Mostly, though, I was worried that the salad dressing would be gross.  I love ranch dressing.  Mmmm.  Judge away, but I would douse everything in some good ranch dressing if I didn't care about my jeans.  I'm not going to eat some low calorie knock off that tastes rotten just because it's healthier.  But I tried this Greek yogurt mix and WOW.  I'm seriously considering making this for myself in larger quantities and using it instead of ranch.

I know, blasphemy.  It's taco-y, so I can't use it for ranch in everything, but just on a regular every day salad?  Sure.  Never thought I'd say that...

Anyway, we brainstormed as we ate and decided the best meal ever is this salad with our carne asada instead of chicken.  Oh yes.

Southwestern Chopped Salad
Adapted from Greens and Chocolate

2 cups diced or shredded chicken (we got lazy and used the canned chicken we had mixed with some taco seasoning)
1 can yellow corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed
1/2 green pepper
5-6 chopped green onions
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 fresh avacados, diced
1/2 cup diced cilantro
1 head of lettuce, chopped or shredded

  1. Mix all the ingredients together.  Toss well.
  2. Top individual servings with crushed tortilla chips and cheese (if you like).
  3. Mix with Southwestern Ranch (see recipe below)


Southwestern Ranch Dressing
Adapted from Greens and Chocolate

3/4 cup (6oz container) plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup mayo (I used the low fat)
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
1 tablespoon ranch seasoning (roughly half of a packet)
Smidge of lime juice

  1. Mix all of the ingredients together, making sure there are no streaks of seasoning.
  2. Inhale immediately... or keep in refrigerator for moderate use.

Comments

  1. KellyApril 27, 2013 at 9:39 AM

    I'm going to try this recipe this coming week! I agree with you that low fat anything is torture. Just eat the real thing already!

    ReplyDelete
  2. KellyApril 30, 2013 at 9:36 PM

    I told you I'd make it! Check it out:

    http://unchartedchicago.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/southwestern-chopped-salad/

    I linked back to your recipe. Thanks for the great recipe!

    ReplyDelete

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