Santa Fe Salad with Peanut Lime Vinaigrette

For the Canadians frequenting this site, you are no doubt familiar with Earl’s restaurant.  They have an Ah-Maze-Ing Santa Fe chicken salad on their menu that rocks my world.  Upon discovering it, I set out on a quest to find a copycat recipe.  The recipe listed below is a slight adaptation of one from epicurious.com and is the closest I have found.

This salad is chock full of delicious, fresh, and healthy ingredients.  Avocados, dates, corn, black beans – the list goes on.  While it is a bit labor intensive to make this, it is well worth the effort.  I’ve made a few adjustments based on ingredients I typically have in the kitchen, such as using frozen corn in place of a cob (it’s hard to find corn on the cob in the middle of winter in the Canadian prairies!), chopped dates in lieu of boiled and mashed, and frying the tortilla strips with a tiny bit of olive oil instead of deep frying .  Earl’s version of the recipe includes blackened chicken, which I would recommend if you are making this as a meal.

Give this one a try.  Your taste buds will LOVE you!!

P.S. My best foodie friend Megan made her own version of this a few months ago with a number of adaptations for a gluten-free and vegan option – check it out here!

Print Recipe

Santa Fe Salad with Peanut Lime Vinaigrette

Servings: 4 meal size servings

Author: The Gourmet Housewife

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup peanuts
• 1/4 cup vegetable or peanut oil
• 2 limes zested and juiced
• 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 small corn tortillas
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 7-8 cups mixed greens
• 1 cup fresh dates chopped into 1/4" pieces
• 3/4 cup frozen corn kernels
• 13 oz can black beans rinsed and drained
• 1 avocado sliced
• 3/4 cup feta cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts
• sliced cooked blackened chicken optional

Instructions

• Process first 7 ingredients in a small food processor until almost smooth. There should be tiny chunks of peanut and lime. Set aside.
• Slice tortillas into pieces 1/8" wide and 1" long. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry tortilla pieces until browned. Set aside.
• Layer remaining ingredients in a large bowl and top with tortilla pieces. Serve with prepared dressing.