If you are a fan of the Southwestern and Mediterranean recipes, then I think you are going to love this salad! It’s a Southwestern Style inspired Quinoa Salad that gives you all the flavors you could ever want! This healthy salad features Romaine, Quinoa, Chicken, Corn, Black Beans (optional), Peppers, Cilantro and a delicious healthier version of a chipotle dressing! I’m always in the mood for a good Chicken Salad, so this one has become my new favorite go-to every single week!
Ingredients You Will Need For This Quinoa Salad:
Romaine Hearts – I love romaine and love making salads with it! I love the mix between crisp and soft of the hearts! I think it gives a great balance while making a salad!
Grilled Chicken – You can grill up your own chicken, or in my case just grab a rotisserie chicken from the store and be done with it!
Quinoa – You can use any quinoa you’d like, but I always prefer the white quinoa. Always make sure to was and drain you quinoa before cooking!
Southwestern Corn – You can always use regular corn, but if you want to spruce things up a bit like me, I usually like using the Southwestern Style Corn. If your grocery stores are like mine, they always have a different version available of this corn. It’s either, Southwestern, Mexican or Fiesta Corn. I always drain and then rinse the corn as well!
Peppers – Any sweet pepper will work for this salad! In this particular one I used red peppers but it is solely your choice!
Cilantro – Cilantro truly makes this dish so definitely don’t skip on it! And definitely use fresh Cilantro!
Chipotle Dressing – It is your choice for the chipotle dressing you want to use, but if you want to keep this on the healthier side, then you can make the dressing from scratch! Full recipe for that is below!
Corn Tortilla Strips – I love using the Santa Fe Tortilla Strips for this salad!
Black Beans – This will make it a true Southwestern Salad, but for me, although I LOVE black beans, I left them out on this salad because they bother my stomach too much!
Is This A Healthy Salad?
I am no nutritionist or macro expert here so I cannot say this is the healthiest salad you will ever eat! Nor can I give you the carb count, sodium count, protein count or calorie count! However, this delicious chicken salad definitely has healthier ingredients in it! The quinoa and corn give you the healthy carbs you need, while the chicken and beans give you that desired protein! The chipotle dressing this quinoa salad has is made up of healthy fats like the plain greek yogurt and avocado mayo that’s in it, so all in all this is on the healthier side of a salad! Of course portion control is always a big factor when eating anything, but I’d say this salad hits a lot of great areas!
Try Some Delicious Drink Recipes To Go With This Quinoa Salad!
Ingredients
2 Romaine Hearts
1 Cup Quinoa cooked
1 cup Southwestern Corn
1-2 Sweet Bell Peppers
1 1/2 Cups Rotisserie Chicken chopped
1/2 cup chopped Cilantro
1/2 cup Santa Fe Corn Tortilla Strips
3/4 cup Black Beans
1 cup Plain thick Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup Avocado Mayo
3 Tablespoons medium Salsa
1/2 Lime Zest
1 whole Lime juiced
3-4 dashes of your favorite Hot Sauce
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon Cumin
1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
1 tablespoon Chili Powder
Directions
- To Make The Chipotle Dressing: combine your greek yogurt, avocado mayo, lime zest and juice, hot sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin and salsa in a bowl and mix really well. Set aside.
- Finely chop your romaine.
- Add your romaine, cooke quinoa, corn, black beans, peppers, chicken and cilantro to a large bowl.
- Pour over your chipotle dressing. Use as much dressing as you’d like here!
- Mix all ingredients really well.
- Top off with your Santa Fe Tortilla Strips
- Enjoy!
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