Happy Sunday to my friends! I am back today to share a yummy recipe for a Santa Fe style chicken salad. I love creating yummy salads and this one is so good and refreshing for a nice summer night meal and it is super easy to make! I always says that when it is nice outside, I don’t like to spend a lot of time cooking and want to make easy meals, so that I can enjoy the weather with my family. Let’s jump into the recipe!
Pre-heat the oven and prepare your chicken. Meat is obviously optional for this dish, but to add a little protein to the dish, I make my go-to chicken recipe. Pre-heat the oven to 450. After cleaning the chicken, I add the breasts into a baking dish and cover both sides with olive oil and then season with paprika, garlic powder, oregano, salt, and pepper. This chicken is amazing, and you will love it! I bake this in the oven for around 30 minutes.
Clean and dice your veggies. You can get as creative as you want with the veggies, but the main ones I recommend are onions, poblano peppers, pinto beans, and corn. These are my go-to. While the chicken is cooking, I clean and dice my onions and peppers and then cook them in a pan on the stove with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Prepare other toppings and base. While the meat and veggies are cooking, I start to prepare the rest of the goodies for the salad. I love avocados, so I like to chop one avocado up. You can use any type of base for your salad, but I love spinach and always use that for my base of any salad I make. I clean that and have that plated while everything else is finishing up. At this point, I also heat up my corn and pinto beans.
Time to plate. Cut your chicken into small pieces and place on top of your spinach. Add your corn/onion mixture, along with the corn and pinto beans. My other fave toppings are a chopped-up pieces of bacon, tortilla strips, and a mix of pepper jack and Mexican shredded cheese. To add a little bit more flavor, squeeze a fresh lime on top and throw a little bit of cilantro on. My favorite type of dressing to throw on top is ranch that has a little kick to it, although there are many recipes online that you can make on your own out of a sour cream base.
This is my own take on a Sante Fe style salad, and I hope you guys enjoy this if you make it! As I have mentioned before, I love a good salad and I love creating my own. Make sure to sign up with your email to stay posted on when new blogs drop because I have some exciting things coming up!
Xoxo, Bri
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20
Brianna Santoro 