Mexican Chicken Salad

Just in time for Cinco de Mayo (or, y'know, a weeknight supper allllll summer long), a "Mexican" chicken salad, just cooked chicken tossed in a lime and yogurt vinaigrette with healthy 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!

Low Carb. High Protein. Weight Watchers Friendly. Weeknight Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. Inexpensive. Quick to the Table. What're you waiting for?!

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Chicken, the Culinary Chameleon

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 love this Mexican Chicken Salad but we also love Asian Chicken Salad and Chicken Greek Salad with Simple Hummus.

What’s next, I wonder?!

What's In Mexican Chicken Salad? Pantry Ingredients!

In all my recipes and most well-written recipes, every ingredient serves a purpose. Each one matters. Each one contributes to the overall dish. It's not that an ingredient can't be substituted by something else but when choosing the substitute, it's important to understand why the original ingredient was present in the first place.

• Chicken Cooked chicken, extra convenient with breast meat from a rotisserie chicken. Would shrimp work? Yes! Or leftover pork tenderloin? Absolutely. The protein choice is yours.
• Lime-Yogurt Vinaigrette The yogurt sauce is full of fresh flavors (cilantro, green onion, cumin, lime juice and a touch of honey) and binds together the chicken, beans and vegetables into one cohesive package. Most chicken salads call for mayonnaise for binding but no mayo in this dressing! I use non-fat yogurt because it's lighter and healthier.
• Black Beans The beans add both bulk and protein, making this a filling, satisfying meal. Would other beans work? Yes! Chickpeas would work though you might want to consider this meaty chicken salad, Chickpea & Chicken Salad. Pinto beans would work beautifully, so would kidney beans. Be sure to rinse and drain the beans, this removes much of the sodium and muddy-colored liquid.
• Veggies! I use jicama for wet crunch, corn for a touch of sweetness and tomato for wet acidity. But use what vegetables you have on hand. It may turn out less "Mexican"-ish but will still stay delicious.

You Might Wonder Be Wondering ...

Can Mexican Chicken Salad Be Served as a "Bowl"? Yes! We do love our bowls, don't we?! I would mix the chicken with the Lime-Yogurt Vinaigrette but leave the beans and vegetables separate to sprinkle over top. Easy Peasy!

Can Mexican Chicken Salad Be Served as a "Wrap"? Definitely! I would cut up the chicken and vegetables extra small. Then a personal choice, I find flour tortillas too "raw" to eat without cooking a bit. Either brush a flour tortilla with a tiny bit of oil and briefly warm in a skillet, then wrap the salad in the warm tortilla. Otherwise, wrap the filling in a tortilla and warm the entire thing in the skillet.

Can You Make Mexican Chicken Salad with Quinoa? Absolutely. But I'm going to recommend switching recipes to the always wonderful Quinoa & Black Bean Salad, then adding chicken.

Could You Use Grilled Chicken Instead of Rotisserie Chicken? That would be fabulous, a good reason to cook extra.

Could You Serve This as an Appetizer? I think so! I'd pull out the food processor to chop the chicken quite fine, I'd grate the jicama and tomato, then proceed the same. With some tortilla chips? Gorgeous.

What Makes This Recipe Special

• It's fast, fresh and flexible
• It fills you up but is low in calories
• Easy to keep simple or turn into a Mexican-style feast
• Easy to bulk up with guacamole or Mexican Cauliflower "Rice"
• Ready to get started? Here's your recipe!

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QUICK SUPPER: MEXICAN CHICKEN SALAD

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 30 minutes
Makes 7 cups

LIME-YOGURT VINAIGRETTE
• 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

CHICKEN SALAD
• 1 pound breast meat from a 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)

TO SERVE
• 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).

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 don’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. (Except – news flash! Costco and Sam's Club both sell rotisserie chickens for $5, some times I can get as much as 3 pounds of meat off just one chicken!) Add avocado at the last minute so it doesn’t turn brown.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Cup: 194 Calories; 5g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 55mg Cholesterol; 218mg Sodium; 13g Carb; 3g Fiber; 3g Sugar; 24g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 4 & PointsPlus 5 & SmartPoints 4 & Freestyle 1 & myWW green 4 & blue 1 & purple 1 CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 1/2 cup (12g protein). This recipe has been "Alanna-sized" with reductions in fat and calories.

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Celebrating Cinco de Mayo at Home? Recipe Ideas!

(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)

~ Deep Mexico: Ingredient-Driven Mexican Meal Prep ~
~ more Mexican recipes ~

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More Chicken Salad Recipes

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~ more cooked chicken recipes ~

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ yogurt recipes ~
~ lime recipes ~
~ cooked chicken recipes ~
~ canned & dried beans ~
~ jicama recipes ~
~ corn recipes ~
~ tomato recipes ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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