Arizona Chicken Salad

Chef

Cookbook

Latina Lite Cooking

Published by Warner Books

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This image courtesy of Joseph DeLeo

Editor's Note: Transform your lunchtime routine with this Arizona Chicken Salad that is topped with crispy tortilla strips and creamy avocado. This Tex-Mex style chicken salad recipe includes beans, onions, tomatoes, and plenty of flavor from a combination of chili powder and hot sauce. Sour cream gives the salad its signature creaminess, as well as a bit of tang that perfectly complements the spice.

Serves4

CostModerate

Easy

Recipe CourseMain Course

Dietary ConsiderationPeanut Free, Soy Free, Tree Nut Free

MealDinner, Lunch

Taste and TextureCreamy, Meaty, Savory

Type of DishMain Course Salad, Salad

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
2 cups red kidney beans, cooked or canned, drained
¼ cup finely diced onion
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon red chile powder
½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
½ cup fat-free sour cream
2 tablespoons fat-free plain yogurt
2 tablespoons Japanese seasoned rice vinegar (see Notes)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 cups grated lettuce
½ avocado, sliced
4 Tortillas Tostadas, in strips (see Notes)

Instructions

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat; brown chicken; add beans, onion, tomato, and chile powder; reduce heat; saute for 8 minutes; cool; set aside.
Whisk Tabasco, sour cream, yogurt, vinegar, and mayonnaise together.
Place chicken and beans into a large ensaladera-salad bowl; add lettuce; mix with dressing.
Top with avocado slices and tortilla strips.
Mexican Red Sauce, Green Sauce, or Pico De Gallo goes well with this salad.

Notes

Japanese seasoned rice vinegar can be found in the Asian food section of your supermarket.

Tostada (tortilla, toasted):
According to the old form, tostadas were fried tortillas that oozed oil, but now you can prepare them without fat. Toast a tortilla in the toaster-oven, on the griddle, or in the oven. A fresh corn tortilla tastes better than an old one. Eat tostadas with ceviche, refried beans, nopales salad, salsas, and dips, among countless other dishes.

1998 Maria Dolores Beatriz