I rarely choose a salad to make up the entirety of my meal. Truthfully, I’d rather a trough of pasta but it’s really not my intention to bust the seams of all my jeans so salad must happen from time to time. This one though, has so much to it that I didn’t consume anything else and managed to be sufficiently satisfied–a rare occurrence for this bottomless pit.
It’s full of roasted vegetables and chiles, cumin spiced chicken, avocado, arugula, cotija cheese, and is topped with a tangy yet sweet lime cilantro dressing. It’s also top of the class for leftovers because it’s quite a sturdy mix. In summary, pasta is better than this salad but this salad is really good.
For the salad:
Ingredients
1 poblano pepper
1 zucchini
1 yellow/summer squash
5 stalks of asparagus
1 ear of yellow corn
5 white button mushrooms
1 avocado
1 cup arugula
1/4 cup cotija cheese
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 teaspoon cumin
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon each of kosher salt & pepper
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Make dressing (recipe listed separately)–it needs to sit for a bit!
3. Prep the vegetables: Quarter poblano pepper lengthwise and remove seeds. Cut zucchini, squash, asparagus (with tough ends removed), and mushrooms (with stems removed) into 1 inch pieces. Remove husks and silks from corn and cut off the cob.
4. Place vegetables on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil until evenly coated and sprinkle with half of the salt & pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, turning vegetables over halfway through roasting time.
5. Remove the vegetables from the oven and set aside to cool.
6. While the veggies cool, cook up the chicken. Season chicken breast on both sides with cumin and the remaining salt & pepper.
7. Heat a small skillet for 30 seconds with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Place chicken in oil and cook, without messin’ around with it for 4-5 minutes until golden brown and flip. Give it about 3 minutes on the other side, until cooked through. Of course, timing completely depends on the size of the chicken breast but do your best to not overcook!
8. Once chicken has rested for a couple of minutes and cooled a bit, diced into 1 inch pieces.
9. Assemble salad–put vegetables in a mixing bowl. Add chicken, cheese, arugula (well rinsed and dried) and avocado (diced) into the bowl. Toss with dressing to your taste and top with a sprig of cilantro (leftover from dressing making), if you wish!
For the dressing:
Ingredients
1 lime
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, grated or finely minced
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon coriander
Directions
1. Add all ingredients to a pint sized mason jar, or any other container with a lid you have.
2. Shake thoroughly to combine.
3. Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour. The longer the better!
As always, here are those printables:
- 1 poblano pepper
- 1 zucchini
- 1 yellow/summer squash
- 5 stalks of asparagus
- 1 ear of yellow corn
- 5 white button mushrooms
- 1 avocado
- 1 cup arugula
- 1/4 cup cotija cheese
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon each of kosher salt & pepper
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Make dressing (recipe listed separately)–it needs to sit for a bit!
- Prep the vegetables: Quarter poblano pepper lengthwise and remove seeds. Cut zucchini, squash, asparagus (with tough ends removed), and mushrooms (with stems removed) into 1 inch pieces. Remove husks and silks from corn and cut off the cob.
- Place vegetables on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil until evenly coated and sprinkle with half of the salt & pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, turning vegetables over halfway through roasting time.
- Remove the vegetables from the oven and set aside to cool.
- While the veggies cool, cook up the chicken. Season chicken breast on both sides with cumin and the remaining salt & pepper.
- Heat a small skillet for 30 seconds with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Place chicken in oil and cook for 4-5 minutes until golden brown and flip. Continue to cook for about 3 minutes on the other side, until cooked through. Timing will completely depend on the size of the chicken breast but do your best to not overcook!
- Once chicken has rested for a couple of minutes and cooled a bit, diced into 1 inch pieces.
- Assemble salad–put vegetables in a mixing bowl. Add chicken, cheese, arugula (well rinsed and dried) and avocado (diced) into the bowl. Toss with dressing to your taste.
- Suggested garnish: cilantro
- Ingredients
- 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, grated or finely minced
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon coriander
- Add all ingredients to a pint sized mason jar, or any other container with a lid you have.
- Shake thoroughly to combine.
- Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.
- The longer the dressing sits in the fridge, the better the flavor!