Mexican Chicken Salad

The Recipe: Just in time for Cinco de Mayo or, y'know, a weeknight supper all summer long, a "Mexican" chicken salad, just cooked chicken tossed in a lime and yogurt vinaigrette with black beans, jicama, corn and tomatoes. It's easy, it's tasty and the jicama gives the salad great "crunch". If you're new to jicama, you'll want to check out Vegetables 101: What Is Jicama? You'll be glad you did!

Weight Watchers Friendly, just 3 PointsPlus per cup! Low Carb too!

The Conversation: Chicken, the culinary chameleon.

Mexican Chicken Salad, a quick supper, rotisserie chicken tossed with lime-yogurt vinaigrette, black beans, jicama, corn and tomato.

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My favorite just-turned-twelve-year old has a cautious palette, he just doesn’t like surprises. But during a Florida beach vacation last year, he worked up the gumption to try alligator. “It tastes like chicken,” he reported later, obviously surprised that something so exotic could taste so familiar.

That’s the funny thing about chicken, right? Other meats “do” often remind us of chicken. But chicken is itself a culinary chameleon, it easily adapts to different flavors. We loved this Mexican Chicken Salad but we also love Asian Chicken Salad and Chicken Greek Salad with Simple Hummus. What’s next, I wonder?!

ALANNA’s TIPS A whole teaspoon of salt might seem like it would be a “lot of salt” for the dressing. But it’s seasoning for an entire pound of chicken plus about five cups of vegetables. We didn’t find it at all too much!

A rotisserie chicken is easier to “pick” when it’s still warm, the skins come off more easily, the meat pulls off the bone less reluctantly. Put the skin and the bones right into a saucepan, you’ll want to make No-Big-Deal Homemade Chicken Stock. Throw the corn cobs into the pot too!

If you’re making the salad ahead of time, consider de-seeding the tomato, otherwise the salad can get a little watery.

Fresh summer tomatoes and fresh corn make this an especially summer-y chicken salad. During the off-season, use roma tomatoes and frozen corn.

A rotisserie chicken is convenient but pricey compared to other cuts. In St. Louis, you can buy a rotisserie chicken for about $7, cheaper than fast food, for sure, but still, about $5.60 a pound if it yields 1-1/4 pounds of meat. So skip the rotisserie chicken if you like, this is my favorite way to bake chicken for eating later, Vince’s Baked Chicken.

Add avocado at the last minute so it doesn’t turn brown.

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QUICK SUPPER:
MEXICAN CHICKEN SALAD

Hands-on time: 50 minutes
Time to table: 50 minutes
Makes 7 cups

1/4 cup (60g) non-fat Greek yogurt
Zest of a lime
Juice of a lime (about 1-1/2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt (see ALANNA’s TIPS)
Freshly ground pepper to taste

1 rotisserie chicken
1/2 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 small jicama, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
2 ears corn, kernels sliced off (about 1 cup)
1 large tomato, cubed (see TIPS)

Lettuce leaves
Small tomatoes, jicama slices, chopped cilantro, avocado slices for garnish

LIME-YOGURT VINAIGRETTE Mix all ingredients in a small food processor or by hand with a whisk. Can be made ahead.

CHICKEN SALAD Pull the skin off the chicken, then the meat off the bones. Cut into bite-size pieces and refrigerate until ready to mix.

Prep the veggies.

Combine the chicken, veggies and Lime-Yogurt vinaigrette.

TO SERVE Line a large bowl with lettuce leaves, spoon salad into leaves.

MAKE-AHEAD Can be made up to 8 hours before serving.

MORE IDEAS Cut corn tortillas into strips or wedges and bake until crisp; break into pieces and sprinkle over top. Serve with warm tortillas or soft whole lettuce leaves on the side for “wraps”. Use the chicken mixture as the meat topping for Mexican Pizza (Oaxaca Tlayuda).

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Cup: 128 Calories; 3g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 21mg Cholesterol; 287mg Sodium; 14g Carb; 4g Fiber; 3g Sugar; 11g Protein.

WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS WW Old Points 2 & WW Points Plus 3.

CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 3/4 cup (9g protein).

This recipe has been 'Alanna-sized'.

Adapted from Sauce Magazine, one of St. Louis' two fabulous food magazines.

This recipe has been 'Alanna-sized' with reductions in fat and calories.