“This is really good”
“I would eat this every week.”
“I really like this supper.”
Those are some of the compliments that I received from my husband and children when I served them a Main Dish Salad for dinner. Shocking, right? Who would have guessed that a bowl full of vegetables and lean protein would be so exciting.
The first time I had a main dish salad was for lunch. My co-workers and I went to Longhorn Steakhouse, and I wanted to order something that was “light”. I ordered the Santa Fe BBQ Chicken Salad, and it was delicious! Fresh greens, tomato, black beans, corn, cucumber, and shredded cheddar topped with a perfectly grilled chicken breast.
There may have been some bacon bits and tortilla strips. I didn’t even use dressing on it, the BBQ sauce from the chicken, and the moisture from the vegetables was all I needed. Unfortunately, Longhorn’s stopped offering this salad. That’s when I knew that I had to come up with my own version.
As summer winds down, the farm stands are still bursting with fresh vegetables. I recommend that you go pick up some fresh tomatoes and cucumbers – really anything that they have – and make a main dish salad tonight.
A Main Dish Salad is definitely a week-night meal. By using shortcuts for your protein, you can cut down prep time significantly. But, if you want to cook/make your own protein, it just takes a little forethought.
There are many variations of the Main Dish Salad – Santa Fe, Taco, Chicken Caesar, Spinach and strawberries, Steak Salad, BLT Salad, Greek Salad, well, you get the idea. This can be a very creative endeavor, and it also can be tailored to your likes and dislikes. Not a fan of Romaine Lettuce? Swap it out for a favorite. Prefer shrimp to chicken? By all means use shrimp! I don’t think you can go wrong.
For this post, I am sharing my version of the “Santa Fe” salad, but I will share other suggestions for alternative ingredients.
Protein:
It’s important to have some sort of protein in your salad. This is what makes it a “main dish”. I frequently choose chicken, but you can use beef, pork, shrimp, salmon, tuna, or even lamb. In this salad, I also use hard-boiled egg. I often do not use all the chicken tenders in the bag when I make one of my other meals (like Chicken Marsala or Honey Glazed Chicken). I throw them in a bag with Italian dressing and a tablespoon or two of soy sauce, or sometimes I use BBQ sauce, or sometimes I make a combination of the dregs of my salad dressing collection – hey, don’t judge me, it makes a great marinade! Then I grill them up for this meal. Grilling chicken tenders takes about 5 minutes cooking time, so this is still very fast.
If you want to use chicken, but don’t want to cook, there are a bunch of shortcuts, including one aptly named “shortcuts” from Perdue. If you prefer a breaded chicken, Purdue also make cutlets that are fully cooked and can be cut up and added to salads.
Lettuce:
Greens are an essential part of the salad. They provide a lot of nutrients, but also filler to hold all the yummy ingredients. Romaine is my go-to lettuce. It’s got a great texture, deep green leaves, and you can usually buy a generous head of it at my supermarket. I like red leaf or green leaf (or a combo) too. I’m not a fan of iceberg, but some salads (like a wedge) call for it. Then, there’s the spring mixes or spinach. These usually come in a bag at my supermarket. I rather buy loose than bagged greens/salad – except for spinach, maybe because that’s only available in a bag at my supermarket? If I’m making a spinach-based salad, I usually buy the baby spinach because it’s easier.
Other Vegetables:
In my opinion, a salad isn’t a salad unless it has tomatoes and cucumbers. The other vegetables are all optional or based on the kind of salad you are making. For the Santa Fe salad, I like to add red onion, corn, and black beans (ok, I know that corn and black beans aren’t vegetables, but for the purposes of categorization, I’m putting them here). I’ve occasionally diced a green or red pepper for this salad, but you don’t have to. I like my vegetables chopped – I don’t particularly care for cherry tomatoes, they are too hard to eat or cut without the insides squishing out. I want a lady-like bite of tomato.
The Fixings:
Here’s where an ordinary salad turns into “Santa Fe” salad. What I like to have on this salad includes:
Bacon bits (I always have some pre-cooked bacon on hand, and I’ll just chop up 3 slices.)
Shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese – straight from the bag 🙂 Or you could shred it yourself.
Cilantro, chopped – of course, this depends on your feelings towards cilantro, but I like the flavor, so in it goes.
Hard-boiled egg, chopped – technically a protein, but I chop up the egg and crumble on top of the salad
Tortilla strips – this is the key ingredient that really sets this salad apart – you can make it without them, but it won’t officially be “Santa Fe”
That’s it, time to dig in!
What are your favorite salad combinations?
Santa Fe BBQ Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1 large head of Romaine lettuce
- 1 to mato diced
- 1 cucumber diced
- 1/4 red onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 c black beans rinsed and drained
- 1/2 c corn kernels
- 2 T cilantro chopped
- 1 lb of cooked chicken breast or more, diced
- 2 eggs hard boiled and chopped
- 3 slices bacon cooked and diced
- 1/2 c shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
- 1/2 c tortilla strips Santa Fe seasoned (or more to taste)
Instructions
- Grill chicken if needed, hard boil the eggs.
- After washing and drying the lettuce, rip it into small pieces and place in a large salad bowl.
- Add the diced chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, black beans, corn, and cilantro. Gently toss.
- Sprinkle with the chopped egg, bacon bits, and cheese. Top with the tortilla strips and serve!
Notes
