Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Copy Cat!

Hey all! 

This week's menu contains a copy-cat salad from a local brewery (that I love!) called Tustin Brewing Co. They not only have some yummy items on the menu but they have a Santa Few Chicken Salad that i cannot seem to avoid when i am there! My kickboxing friends call it the "Simone Salad" because they know i order it A LOT! 

So i have duplicated the salad by taking a picture of the menu and then getting all the ingredients with small tweeks to make it easier! 

Santa Fe Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
1-2 Hearts of Romaine 
1 chicken breast, cubed
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 red onion diced
1-2 small tomatoes, diced
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Tortilla strips (or crumbled up chips)
Cilantro Dressing 

Begin by washing the lettuce and cutting it into bite sized pieces. Then add the toppings. Toss well making sure to coat the leaves with the dressing. Serves 3-5 depending on how much lettuce you use. 

A Few Cook's Notes:
- I used spinach for this salad! 
- To package this for lunches during the week put lettuce in a container and then make separate baggies with the other ingredients. One bag should include wet ingredients such as chicken, corn, beans, and red onion. The second bag should include the shredded cheese and the tortilla chips. Then a separate container would be needed for the dressing. 
- The menu at TBC states that they use a cilantro lime dressing. I found a yummy cilantro dressing at Trader Joe's and it is even low fat! You can find other recipes for homemade cilantro lime dressings here or here or here. (If i decided i wanted to make my own, I would definitely chose the last one! It seems the healthiest!) 
- I went with low fat mozzarella. This should cut a little of the fat! 
-The tomatoes I chose were the mine-grape tomatoes that I can just throw into the baggies. This was a geat time and mess saver! 
- This salad makes a great meal or even a side dish! 

I hope you give the salad a try! Mangia! 

Photobucket