12, Jul 2009
Southwestern Chicken Salad

I decided to follow the basic approach of the recent larb and baked wonton recipes — grinding up and sauteeing some chicken, making a salad by adding fresh and pungent ingredients — but using sort-of southwestern vegetables and flavors. The result was pretty good, accompanied with beans, tortilla chips, and a little salsa.

Ingredients

1 lb chicken, about 2:1 thighs to breasts, ground
3 cloves garlic, minced
juice from one lime
3 tsp toasted, ground cumin
1 ear corn, kernels cut from cob
1 smoked anaheim pepper, diced
1 chopped tomato (or handful of cherry tomatoes)
salt, pepper, olive oil

Directions

Mix chicken lightly with about half the lime juice and let stand for a few minutes while preparing the rest. Heat a little olive oil in a skillet on medium. Add the garlic and about half the cumin and sautee until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and sautee until cooked. In a bowl, mix with other ingredients. The salad will mellow as it stands, so don’t add the cumin and lime juice until just before serving.

Notes
I didn’t put any heat in this recipe, but served it with cholula and salsa. Could also be made with cayenne powder or red pepper flakes. Cilantro would also be be good. Also good mixed with about 1 c pinto beans.