Tex-Mex Chicken Salad with Cliantro Lime Dressing

It's hot here.... really hot here, and when it's hot, I don't cook. We eat a lot of salads, sammies and things that are quick, require little effort and most importantly, doesn't involve turning the oven on. Oh and to answer your question, No, I do not have air conditioning. A few days ago I started looking for salad recipes to help get through the next few weeks until my son is born. I found a lot of great idea's on the Food Network website and this one is a take on a salad that Sunny Anderson does. While the only thing my salad and hers have in common is the romaine lettuce and shredded cheese, the dressing is almost completely her recipe. I added in more garlic and a ton more cilantro to my dressing and I'm glad I did. The taste was wonderful and I think next time, I'm going to make the cornbread croutons that she used in her salad! This is easily made into a meatless dish with the removal of the chicken. Make it completely animal free by using a soy based cheese.

What You Need:
Salad:
A package of Romaine Hearts (comes 3 to a pack)
Rotisserie Chicken
1 can Garbanzo beans (chick peas)
1 tsp cumin
2 large tomatoes
1/2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 c shredded Monterey jack cheese

Dressing:
1 big handful of Cilantro leaves
1 tbs red wine vinegar
1/4 c lime juice
1/2 c sour cream
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

What To Do:

Slice the Romaine hearts into bite sizes pieces and spread in the bottom of a salad dish.
Remove the breast from the chicken, and save the rest for another dish.
Remove the skin from the chicken and dice into bite sized chunks.
Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans and mix them together with the chicken and cumin. Spread over the lettuce.
Chop the tomatoes and add over the salad, followed by the cheeses.


To make the dressing, combine all of the ingredients, except for the olive oil into a blender. Turn the blender on and let it rip. While the blender is running, slow drizzle in the oil. The dressing I made wasn't very thick, but I didn't exactly measure the ingredient either so yours might end up thicker then mine did. Serve along side the salad.