With a recipe name like that, how can you go wrong? That is what I thought when I came across it in the most recent Cooking Light. Feeling the slight tightness around the waist of my jeans, I picked up the magazine in the airport on my way back from San Francisco vowing to shed a few pounds by eating a lot of salads and holding off on baking projects.

I usually start cooking from a recipe and then end up veering in a different direction or altering it here or there. With this recipe, I didn’t do that one time. I made it exactly as printed and I was thrilled with the result. Don’t let the long recipe dissuade you - it really isn’t that time consuming.  And, if you are going to buy tequila for the dressing anyway, you might as well enjoy a little margarita while you are cooking!

Grilled Chicken, Mango and Jicama Salad with Tequila-Lime Vinaigrette
Chicken:
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
6 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons tequila
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
dash of salt

Tortilla Strips:
4 (6 inch) yellow corn tortillas, cut in 1/2 inch strips
cooking spray
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
dash of ground red pepper

Remaining ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup strips peeled jicama
1 cup thinly sliced peeled mango
5 ounces (1 bag) mixed baby greens

1. Combine all chicken marinade ingredients and marinate in refrigerator for 2-24 hours.

2. Combine all vinaigrette ingredients and whisk together in a small bowl. Chill until you use it.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tortilla strips in a bowl. Spray with cooking spray (or olive oil) and toss with all the spices. Bake them spread out on a baking sheet for 8 minutes or until almost crisp. They will get crisp while cooling.

4. Prepare grill. Remove chicken from marinade. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill until done.

5. Cut chicken in strips. Combine jicama, mango and greens in a large bowl. Toss with vinaigrette. Spread the jicama mixture on plates. Top with chicken slices and tortilla strips.

From Cooking Light, March 2007

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 24th, 2007 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Soups & Salads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.