October 21, 2013

Mexican Caesar Salad

This salad was inspired by Chop’t Creative Salad Company’s Mexican Caesar salad.  It’s very similar to the original, except I wasn’t sure how to make their dressing so I invented my own.  For some reason, whenever I buy a jalapeno, I lose it.  I bought a nice glossy jalapeno for this recipe, made the salad and ate it all before realizing that the jalapeno wasn’t in it.  It wasn’t in the fridge either, or on the floor, or behind the chopping block or in the fruit bowl.  

So the next day, I bought another jalapeno and that one went missing too.  What the heck?  I checked the garbage pail, the recycling bin next to the chopping block, checked in the living room just in case the cat made off with it or knocked it off the kitchen pass-through.  After a long, annoying search, I finally found that it had fallen behind the chopping block and plopped down onto the bottom shelf behind a bunch of stuff.  It was worth the search and made my salad extra spicy.  Enjoy the crunch of fresh romaine and corn chips, the saltiness of cotija cheese and the creaminess of avocado and chipotle dressing.  Add some shredded chicken or beans for a complete meal.  Oh, and don’t lose your jalapeno.

RECIPE

Makes 1 large or 2 small servings

1 head romaine lettuce, sliced in thin strips
2-3 tablespoons crumbled cotija cheese
1/2 avocado, diced
8 corn chips, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (or parsley)
1/4 jalapeno, diced fine (for mildness, remove seeds and ribs)
1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon chipotle hot sauce (Cholula is my favorite brand)
1 tablespoon lime juice (from 1/2 lime)
1 small clove garlic, mashed into a paste
1 teaspoon coarse salt
4 turns freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil 

1.  Add the lettuce, cheese, avocado, corn chips, cilantro and jalapeƱo to a large mixing bowl.

2.  In a small bowl, blend together the yogurt, mayo, chipotle hot sauce, lime juice, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil until smooth.

3.  Dress the salad with a couple of spoonfuls of the dressing and toss well with tongs.  Continue to add dressing slowly until the salad has a nice thin coating, but not so much dressing that it starts to look soggy.  Serve immediately.

2 comments:

  1. This looks wonderful! And I just picked the last of the jalapeƱos from my garden, so now I know just what to do with them!

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  2. Hi PrayerPoseMom. Freshly picked jalapenos sound awesome! I hope you enjoy this salad with a kick!

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