Tequila Lime Chicken & Salad

Step away from the shot glass.  Your tequila has found a higher calling.  And I've finally found some serious competition for my one true salad love - the Grilled Chicken Caesar.  Like the Caesar, this salad is no sissy.  Served with a homemade cilantro-lime dressing and a couple of warm flour tortillas, this is a meal fit for even the heartiest of appetites.

Here’s what you’ll need for the chicken:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Fresh cilantro
Fajita seasoning
Lime juice
Tequila
Water (for the quick version)

You may have noticed the conspicuous absence of measurements in this recipe.  Sorry about that.  I haven’t completely reverted back to my default setting. It’s just that amounts truly don’t matter for this one.  It’s a salad.  Make a big one.  Or a little one.  Or something in between.  You can decide.

Pour about a cup of tequila into a pan.  Add a handful of finely chopped fresh cilantro, a packet of fajita seasoning and the juice of two limes.  Mix well.  Add your chicken and marinate for several hours.

I recommend grilling the chicken (baste it periodically with the marinade) and serving it, chopped, on top of the salad.  If you are pressed for time, though, you can cook it on the stove.  If you go that route, chop the uncooked chicken breast into bite sized pieces and place them in a skillet along with the marinade and up to a half cup of water.  Cover the skillet and cook on medium until the chicken is done, stirring periodically.

Here’s what you’ll need for the salad:

Spring mix lettuce
Tomato
Avocado
Red onion
Cilantro
Sea salt
Shredded cheese
Chicken
Warm tortillas

Chop the tomato and the onion into chunks.  Halve the avocado and gently remove the insides from the peel.  Place the avocado halves flat side down on a cutting board and slice them lengthwise into several thin pieces.  Finely chop a handful of fresh cilantro.

Cover a plate with a thick layer of the spring mix.  Top with tomato, onion, cilantro and avocado slices.  For the best presentation, scatter them evenly across the salad. Sprinkle with sea salt and add the chicken just prior to serving.  Top with shredded cheese.

To warm the tortillas, place them directly on the middle rack of your oven at 200 degrees for two or three minutes.

Here’s what you need for the cilantro-lime dressing:

Lime juice
Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt
Sunflower oil
Apple cider vinegar
Cilantro, finely chopped
Honey (a very small amount)

Combine the ingredients in a bowl or other container.  Mix well.  Taste the dressing and adjust your ingredients accordingly.  It should be tart and a tad salty, with a hint of sweetness.

Pour the dressing over the salad just after you’ve added the sea salt and the chicken. 

Black Bean Avocado Enchilada

Holy frijoles, Fatman!  The archvillian Aunt D is at it again!  This time she's whipped up a diet-friendly Mexican dish.  She may have finally foiled our evil plan to super-size the unsuspecting citizens of Glutton City!  If only we knew the location of her secret lair.  Perhaps we could catch her and strap her to a ridiculously slow conveyor belt with a vat of boiling acid at the end.

Will Aunt D succeed and save the citizens of Glutton City from eating themselves to death?  Or will Fatman and his chubby sidekick get the best of her?  Tune in next week to find out.  Same fat time . . . . same fat channel . . .

In the meantime, here's what you'll need to fight crime . . uh . . calories in your own kitchen:

4 Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain tortillas
2 avocados
2 small tomatoes
1 thin slice of red onion
2 cups of black beans, cooked
1 cup of wild rice, cooked
1 ounce of shredded Mexican cheese (I used one serving of a block of quesadilla cheese, grated)
Sea salt and lime juice to taste

Halve the avocados to remove the pit and squeeze or scrape the insides into a bowl.  Mash the avocado with a fork until it is no longer lumpy.  Dice two small tomatoes and add them to the bowl.  Chop the onion and add to the bowl.  Stir the mixture well.  Add sea salt and lime juice to taste.

On each tortilla, layer 1/4 cup of rice, 1/2 cup of black beans and 1/4 of the avocado mixture.  Roll tightly and place upside down into a baking dish.  Spread your cheese evenly over the four enchiladas.

Bake at 350 degrees until the enchiladas are heated thoroughly.  Serving size: 1 enchilada (432 calories)