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I've had these pictures waiting on my computer for a few weeks, ever since I made the Topopo Salad that Annie published at Forest Street Kitchen. I could say I was afraid Annie would break my kneecaps if I gave her salad a bad review, but the truth is, I've just been busy. And besides, I can't give this salad a bad review -- it was wonderful.
This is my idea of a great summer supper -- it was easy to prepare (although making it for six people was a little more complicated than it would be for a smaller family), and light, yet filling. The salad mix is light in flavor, yet with the onions, peas, peppers and salsa, has a variety of flavors. It's light enough that I could have eaten it until it came out my ears (that's a lot of salad, just so you know), yet, the protein in the beans and chicken kept me full longer than if I had just eaten a lettuce salad. Doug loved it as much as I did, and two of the kids really enjoyed it (two out of four is fairly good in my house -- especially for a salad). The good thing about this recipe is you can keep building for those who like all of the ingredients, or stop near the bottom for the picky ones. Two of mine ate chips, cheese and chicken, with salsa and guacamole on the side -- easy enough.
The only changes I made were to use some baby greens instead of Iceberg (because I needed to use some that was already in the fridge) and I only used one can of beans, one cup of salsa, one cup of guacamole, and 1 cup of cheese. Since you can't really save this for leftovers, make what you can eat in one sitting. Definitely follow Annie's directions when it comes to dressing the salad -- it doesn't need much, and I liberally salted and peppered my greens because that's just how I like my salads. My chicken was grilled -- I just threw a couple of seasoned (salt, pepper, garlic powder) boneless breasts on the grill and shredded them. The flavor was ideal and I would use the same method again. You could, however, get some rotisserie chicken from the store and use it (that's a little more costly, though).
This will definitely be on my menu again, and I would even serve it for friends. It would be a fun menu item if you were having drinks and munchies. Everyone could just take as much as they want -- and it's light enough that you could serve it with other foods. Thanks for a great recipe Annie. If I'm ever up your way, I'll be sure to grab you for a bite at El Azteco.
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