Hafen Girls

For dinner tonight we re-lived some of our Provo days of yore and re-created one of our favorite salads that was a get-rid-of-that-baby-weight go-to recipe because it was so healthy and flavorful. Unfortunately, we can't get it through the drive-through anymore (although we rush to El Azteca whenever we're in Happy Valley), so we did our best to imitate it.

Someone forgot to move the grill before the big snow-storm hit (that would be moi), so I had to pull on my boots and climb up and around the grill to do the chicken from above like some sort of Eskimo-she-woman, but it was worth it!

Eve went wild for the jicama, but kept referring to it as "hippopoto-ma," so I think that will be its new name in our house .

El Azteca Grilled Chicken Salad
(This much will make 6-8 salads)

Place 4-5 chicken breasts in a plastic freezer bag and add:
1/4 cup onion (I just used dried minced)
2 t fresh garlic or garlic salt
4 T cilantro (dried or use 1/4 cup fresh)
1/2 packet chili seasoning
2 T cumin
4 T lime juice
1 cup Zesty Italian dressing

Marinate for 6-8 hours (I was rushed this morning [who me? rushed? huh?] and only had them in the marinade for 3 hours and the meat was still full of flavor)
Grill the chicken 8-10 minutes on each side and then let rest for 5-10 minutes before you slice it into luscious chunks of tender-meat-fiesta.

Other ingredients:
1-2 heads of red-leaf lettuce, rinsed and chopped (you could use romaine too, or sometimes we use spinach)
1 can corn
1 jicama (pronounced "hiccama." Ask for it in the produce section if you aren't sure where to find it), diced into cubes
Grated cheese (low-fat mozarella)
Mexican rice (6 cups cooked brown or white rice with 1 cup salsa and 1 cup part-skim mozarella cheese mixed in when it's still hot)
Black beans (I just rinsed them and cooked them in a saute pan with garlic, minced onions, a little tomato juice, 2 t cumin, and 2 t cilantro for about 5 minutes)
salsa

To assemble the salad :
Layer lettuce, corn, jicama, cheese, rice, beans, and salsa. Top with chunks of chicken. You can serve it with light or fat free Ranch Dressing or just sprinkle fresh lime juice on the top.

The kids had some tortilla chips with theirs, but I was the epitome of self-control and resisted the crunch!

(Sarah)