sexi mexi salad.

I love Chili's Quesadilla Explosion Salad.  So here is my version with some additions!  Serves 4.

For the Salad:

4 - 8 c. salad greens of your choice, washed (I used 2 cups romaine for a large salad pictured above).

1 recipe for Southwest chicken, sliced

1 can mexi corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 red onion, diced

2 tomatoes, diced

2 avocados, diced and sprinkled with salt and pepper

Tortilla strips (Chips crumbs work well or you can make your own tortilla strips*)

1 c. cheddar or monterey jack cheese, or combo of both

1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

Sour cream, for garnish, optional

In a saucepan, add can drained and rinsed black beans and can of mexi corn over med low heat.  Keep on heat until black beans and corn are just warmed.  If you prefer cold black beans and corn, then skip this step.  

To build each salad, place down a layer of washed salad greens- 1 cup to 2 cups depending on your appetites.  Add warmed black beans and mexi corn.  Top with diced red onion, tomato and avocado.  Add tortilla strips (or chip crumbs) and cheese.  Cook southwest chicken according to directions, slice or dice and add to salad.  Top with fresh chopped cilantro. Garnish with a dab of sour cream, optional.

*I took the easy way out and used tortilla chip crumbles.  To make tortilla strips, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Brush olive oil over a whole wheat tortilla.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cut into strips- 1/4 inch by 2 inches.  Bake for 10 minutes.  

For the Quesadillas:

4 whole wheat tortillas

2 c. cheddar or monterey jack cheese, or combo of both

olive oil

Brush olive oil on each side of the tortillas.  In a skillet on med heat, lightly brown each side of the tortillas. Add cheese to one tortilla, top with another tortilla. Flip after one minute. When cheese is melted, cut quesadillas into 8 pieces.

For the Dressings:

I used two different types of dressing on this salad- a Salsa Ranch dressing on the greens and a Cilantro Lime Ranch dressing over the quesadillas.

For the Salsa Ranch dressing, mix together 1/2 c. salsa and 1/2 c. ranch. Drizzle over your salads.

For the Cilantro Lime Ranch dressing, mix together 1/4 c. ranch, 1 T olive oil, 2 t. fresh lime juice and 1 t. fresh chopped cilantro . Drizzle on the quesadillas.

xx.

val