Southwest Chicken Salad With A Light LIME VINAIGRETTE

Southwest Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients:
Dressing:
¼ cup fresh lime juice
Zest from 1 organic lime
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
A few cracks of pepper
⅛ tsp. Ground cumin
4 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp. avocado oil

Salad Ingredients
Romaine lettuce rinsed and chopped
1 can organic corn, drained
1 can organic beans, drained and rinsed
Handful of organic cherry tomatoes, rinsed and sliced in half
Handful of jicama cubes
⅓ cup or more of grated cotija cheese or feta or goat crumbles
1 large avocado, sliced into cubes
½ lime to squeeze over avocado
Chicken breast, as many as needed
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Smoked paprika
2 tsp. Olive oil

Directions:
Combine all the lime dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. Cube the avocado and place the cubes into a bowl. Squeeze ½ lime over the avocado and stir to coat. Do this closer to when the salad will be served.

Season the chicken breast with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika on both sides. Preheat preferably a cast iron pan over medium-high heat. You know the pan is hot when you splash a few drops of water and it sizzles.

Add 2 tsp. of olive oil to the pan and swirl the oil to coat the bottom. Once the oil is hot (it will shimmer in the pan) lay the chicken breast in and don't move it around. Let it sear for about 4 minutes.

After 4 minutes, flip the breast over and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Using an instant-read thermometer, check the internal temperature of the chicken. You want it to read 155 degrees F.

If it is lower than that, cover and reduce the temperature to medium-low cook for an additional 2 - 3 minutes, and check the temperature again. Depending on how thick your chicken is, you will want to continue cooking with the lid on and checking the internal temperature until it reaches 155 degrees F.

Then remove the chicken to a clean dish or pan lay a piece of foil over or a lid and let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes.

Place all the salad ingredients except the avocado into a large bowl. Spoon the dressing over all and toss to coat everything. Add more ingredients if desired.

Slice the chicken breast thinly and into bite-size pieces and add to the salad. Toss again. Lastly, add the avocado and toss very gently so that the avocado doesn't turn to mush. Enjoy!

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