purplelara

(almost) bandera salad

Another rip off recipe, this one from Cactus Club.  I’d never had this salad at Cactus Club, but it’s Andrew’s favorite so I took a stab at it a while back using the description from their online menu.  I’ve since tried it at the restaurant, and while mine is not exactly the same, it’s just as delicious and since it runs about $15 at Cactus it’s obviously way cheaper to make it at home.  When we do make it at home I get to remind Andrew (after he has two helpings) that he just ate about $30 worth of salad, and also that he has to wear pants in a restaurant.

• Spring mix salad
• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about one per person)
• Cajun seasoning
• Feta cheese to taste
• Approximately one cup cooked (and cooled) corn
• Approximately one cup chopped dates (do yourself a favor and make sure you buy the pitted ones)*
• A couple of handfuls of crunchy-munchy bits (as Andrew calls them, aka chow mein noodles – quite often found in the produce section, near the croutons, otherwise, try the Asian or International section)**

Sprinkle the chicken breasts with Cajun seasoning and throw on the BBQ.

The salad at Cactus is served with a Honey Lime Vinaigrette.  I have yet to make a reasonable facsimile from scratch, but I’ll keep trying.  Lately I have been wimping out and buying a Key Lime Vinaigrette from IGA and adding the juice of one fresh lime, and a squirt of honey. Mix with braun, etc.

I assemble the salad by dumping everything on the plate except the chicken and crunchy-munchy bits, which I add after I’ve added the dressing (I prefer not to drown out the flavor of the Cajun seasoning and the crunchy-munchies can get soggy).

This is a real stand-bye for us.  One meal doesn’t use up all of the feta, corn, dates or noodles so we often have these ingredients at home, which means I just have to pick up some lime, chicken and salad on the way home.  There’s really very little prep to do, so it all comes together really quickly and is really yummy.

*We bought some “real”, “fresh”, “a uthentic”, blah blah dates at an Iranian store one day and they were awful – mushy and too sticky. The ones found in the grocery store are better for this salad.

**We always laugh at the “International” section. When does a food qualify to move from the “International” sectio to the regular aisles? They have Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Thai and Japanese food (among others) in the International section at IGA, yet pasta and pasta sauces are in the regular section.  Italian isn’t International, but
Mexican is? I personally believe Mexico should be up for a promotion to the regular section, as I’ve been eating it for as long as I can remember.  Asian foods may not have been on the North American radar quite as long, so I think they need to put a little more time in the International section before they can be promoted.  Also I think too
much.