Chicken and black bean taco salad
On the evening of Sunday, March 8, I decided to make a salad for dinner. This isn’t just any salad – this is a nutrient-packed and deliciously spicy taco salad. Salads don’t always appeal to people in the way richer meals may, but this one is different – it’ll keep you feeling full, while satisfying your need for flavour at the same time. After looking into the ingredients I already had in my kitchen, I ran out to the grocery store to pick up the last few items.
Once I arrived home, I began by washing a package of spring mix and placing it in my large salad bowl. I then rinsed a can of black beans and set them aside. Typically I cook black beans before use, but this time around, I wanted them to keep their cool temperature and natural flavours. Next, I rubbed the chicken breasts with some chili powder and used a brush to coat them in one of my favourite hot sauces. Once the chicken was seasoned, I baked the breasts for 35 minutes at 375 degrees, until they reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
While the chicken was cooking, I prepared the rest of my raw ingredients. I used both yellow and red bell peppers. Other colours would work just fine, but it just so happened that these were the only two I had on hand. I chopped ¼ of each pepper up into small cubes. I then minced ¼ of a red onion, a handful of cherry tomatoes, and sliced a whole avocado. I also minced one large clove of garlic for the dressing, along with a small handful of fresh cilantro. I grated some medium cheddar cheese to put on top of the salad as well.
Mixing the dressing came next. I mixed ¼ cup of olive oil with the juice of ½ a lemon into a bowl, added the minced garlic and chopped cilantro, then added a touch of kosher salt and some freshly ground pepper. I did this while the chicken was cooking, so the flavours could blend together.
The next step consisted of building the salad. I made enough for two meal-sized salads. I took out two dinner plates, and split the spring mix into two parts first. Then, I put a handful of black beans on each. Next came the bell peppers, the onion, the tomatoes, and the sliced avocado. I then sprinkled the shredded cheddar cheese on top of the veggies.
By this time, the chicken was ready. I allowed it to sit on the cutting board for a couple of minutes, to allow the juices to settle before slicing. Once I had let it sit, I sliced the chicken ¼ of an inch thick in angled slices, and arranged one sliced chicken breast on each plate. The final step was to spoon the dressing on top of the salad.
This salad is lovely to eat on its own, but is also nice to serve with some tortilla chips and a slice of lime.
Shopping list
– Chicken breasts
– Spring mix
– Avocado
– Red onion
– Grape tomatoes
– Yellow bell pepper
– Red bell pepper
– Lemon
– Olive oil
– Salt-and-pepper
– Cilantro
– Garlic
– Hot sauce
– Chili powder
– Cheddar cheese