Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad - SRC

We have been in our new house for just over a week now.....and while we only have a couple of photos on the wall (where the previous owners had left nails), we have gotten through enough of the boxes to find the essentials and settle in, somewhat.
Having the flu sweep through our family certainly hasn't helped the process. It's hard to get anything done when you're caring for sick kiddos.  And poor Grant was hit hardest of all.  Me, well, I'm escaping with just a few days of body aches and some serious congestion - no body-racking coughs or fevers.
Blech.

But it's reveal day for my Secret Recipe Club group - so I had to make a little time for blogging.

This time I was assigned to La Phemme Phoodie.  Wendy is a lawyer by day, a foodie all the rest of the time.  She has some great articles on her blog about legal issues in food blogging, such as Recipe Attribution
and Trademark Infringement, along with several others.   She also has quite a few gluten-free recipes that sound so tempting, like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes and Lemon Blueberry Bars with Coconut Crust..

But when I saw the recipe for this salad, I knew I just had to try it.  The spicy chipotle peppers are tempered by the mellow sour cream and tangy lime juice in the dressing, and the combination of crisp greens with the Tex-Mex ingredients is delightful.

The dressing is very thick, so it doesn't pour very well, but when you give everything good toss, it ends up coating the salad quite nicely.  The original recipe called for quite a bit of cilanto.  They say either you love or hate cilantro. Grant is definitely in the "hate" category.  He despises the stuff.  So I left it out.

The recipe also called for avocado - but since I seem to have developed a sensitivity to it (it gives me a horrible stomach ache for hours afterwards - has anyone else ever heard of/experienced that??) I omitted it also.

I decided to saute the chicken in barbecue sauce instead of just plain roasting it - we loved it, but you could certainly cook the chicken seasoned however you prefer.

My girls thought this was a little on the spicy side, but Grant, Corban, and I thought it was great.  Grant even went so far as to say it was one of his favorite meals.  Hands down.  He doesn't say that often, so I know that it's a real winner.

Thanks, Wendy, for inspiring this awesome salad!!

Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad (adapted from La Phemme Phoodie)

Dressing:
2/3 cup light sour cream
1 T. minced chipotle chile, canned in adobe sauce
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground chili powder
4-5 tsp. fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Salad:
1-1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 T. oil
1/4 cup barbecue sauce

3 cups chopped fresh spinach leaves
3-4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn (toss in colandar with beans and rinse with hot water to thaw)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced peeled avocado (optional)

Corn chips, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

To prepare dressing, combine the first 7 ingredients, whisking well.  Stir in cilantro, if desired.  Set aside.

To prepare salad, begin with the chicken.  (If you have leftover roasted or cooked chicken, you can substitute it with no problems).  Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.  Heat the oil in a large skillet, add chicken and barbecue sauce, and cook over medium heat until no pink remains in chicken.

In a large bowl, combine the spinach, romaine, tomatoes, red onion, beans, corn, cheese, avocado, and cooked chicken.  Pour dressing over the top and stir gently to coat evenly. Serve immediately.

If you think you'll have leftovers, I recommend keeping the chicken and dressing in separate containers from the salad, so nothing gets soggy or wilted.

I forgot to add the cheese for the photos.  We added it at the table.  Delish! 

Linked to Trick or Treat Tuesday