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Southwest Grilled Chicken Green Chile Caesar Salad

overhead view of southwest green chile chicken caesar salad with a black fork in it.
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You'll love this delicious Southwestern spin on the classic chicken Caesar salad. With tender grilled chicken, corn, avocado, cornbread croutons, and green chile Caesar dressing, it's anything but boring!

Ingredients

Scale

For the Green Chile Caesar Dressing:

  • 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 large clove garlic
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
  • 2 roasted green chiles, seeds and stems removed (use 1 if chiles are very hot)
  • 1 tbsp fresh cilantro

For the Salad:

  • 2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Chile powder
  • Garlic powder
  • 1 head romaine lettuce
  • 1/4 small red onion
  • 1 small avocado
  • 1/2 cup pecans
  • 1 cup cornbread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1/2 cup freshly shaved parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 400°F and heat grill to medium high heat.
  2. Make the dressing. Add all of the dressing ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add cold water or milk as needed to thin it if you need to.
  3. Sprinkle chicken breast with salt, pepper, chile powder, and garlic powder. Drizzle with Worcestershire sauce and olive oil.
  4. Grill the chicken on medium-high heat for about 8-10 minutes per side, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. If needed, move the chicken to indirect heat until the center reaches the correct temperature to prevent the outside from burning.
  5. Remove the chicken from the grill and slice it.
  6. Meanwhile, make the croutons and toasted pecans. Cut the cornbread into half inch cubes and spread on one half of a baking sheet. Spread the pecans on the other half. Toast in the oven at 400°F for 10 minutes.
  7. Chop the romaine, cut the corn from the cob, and thinly slice the onion and the avocado.
  8. Assemble the salads. Place romaine on plates, then divide chicken, corn, onion, and avocado between the plates. Top each with croutons, pecans, and freshly shaved parmesan. Top with green chile Caesar dressing and serve.

Notes

  • Make sure the grill is clean before grilling. Heat it to the highest setting and brush it off, then turn the heat down to medium-high.
  • I highly recommend using a meat thermometer any time you grill chicken and other meat to ensure thorough cooking without drying it out.

Ingredient Substitutions and Variations:

  • If you're short on time (or ingredients) and don't feel like making the dressing from scratch, grab your about a half cup of your favorite Caesar dressing and blend in 2 roasted hatch chiles (with seeds removed). Add more chiles as needed.
  • You can use canned green chiles if that's what you have. I'd use one 4 oz can.
  • As mentioned above, you can grill the corn alongside the chicken instead of leaving it raw.
  • I've also made this salad with bacon in place of the pecans. It's delicious either way!
  • Feel free to anything else you'd like, such as tomatoes, cilantro or black beans.

Keywords: green chile grilled chicken Caesar salad, Southwest Caesar salad with chicken, Hatch chile Caesar salad

Find it online: https://livelytable.com/southwest-chicken-caesar-salad/