What is Southwest Chicken Salad?
The southwest chicken salad is a twist on the popular flavors of the American southwest with hints of Mexican influence. Grilled white meat chicken breast is finely chopped and mixed with ingredients such as red onion, cilantro, corn, and jalapéno. The dressing is creamy and made from Greek yogurt or mayonnaise, lime juice, and spices like cumin and cayenne The flavors are spicy, savory, and salty with a creamy dressing and possibly chunks of avocado.
Ingredients
Grilled chicken breast is meat from the chest of the chicken. It is a white meat, making it a bit dryer than the darker meat from the leg or wing. When grilled properly chicken breast can be moist, juicy and tender. The meat is an off white color with golden brown grill marks. These golden brown parts have extra flavor and a bit of crispiness. Grilled chicken has a mild taste that is meaty and savory.
The avocado grows on a tree and is extremely popular across many cuisines and cultures. It has an oval shape with a rounder bottom, and a bumpy, dark green and thick skin that is not consumed. The texture is soft and creamy when eaten. The flavor is mild, green and has a delicate flavor. Avocado is made into a dip and added to a vast variety of dishes.
Corn is a starchy vegetable, grain and fruit that grows on top of a stalk in sunny climates and fertile soil. Corn can be about a foot long and is comprised of many small kernels that are attached to a hard and inedible cob. The kernels are covered in corn silk; white hair like strands and wrapped in green leaves. The kernels are the only part of the corn that is eaten. These kernels are usually yellow and very juicy with a crunch, when cooked. Corn can be eaten on the cob, or removed to create an endless variety of dishes.
Greek yogurt is a dairy product made from milk fermented with healthy bacteria to thicken it into the product we know. With Greek yogurt and extra step is taken to strain all excess whey, creating a richer and creamier product. Greek yogurt is off white, or white in color and has a gentle tangy and milky flavor. The texture is thick and creamy without tasting very fatty. Greek yogurt can be eaten plain or incorporated as an ingredient into a dish.
The red onion is a type of onion and a bulb vegetable, meaning its bulb and not its leaves are eaten. Onions come in many varieties, including white, yellow and red. The onion is usually round and has a thin dry skin around its juicy layers. The skin is a purple/red tone as is the flesh. The body of the onion is made of multiple round layers, that get smaller towards the center. The flavor of onions are sharp and sweet when raw, with an astringent taste. When cooked, these flavors mellow and the sweetness emerges. Onion are a very common flavoring and ingredient for many savory dishes.
Lime juice comes from the citrus fruit of the lime tree. Limes are round and roughly the size of a small plum, but can vary. Limes have a firm texture with green rind. The pale green flesh of the lime is firm, pulpy and juicy, much like a lemon, but harder. The juice is squeezed from the flesh and is a pale green color with a sour and refreshing taste and is used in drinks and food items, including sauces.
Jalapeños are a popular hot pepper with a medium-width body that is short and tapered. These peppers have a shiny thin skin and are often picked while green, and not fully mature. When jalapeños mature they turn red, as do many hot peppers. The thin green flesh of the jalapeño is crispy, with a hint of juice and very hot. Jalapeños also have a mild green flavor and contain extremely spicy seeds in their centers. The uses vary widely and jalapeños can be found in hot sauce, salsa, guacamole, cornbread and more. They are almost always used fresh or pickled.
Extra virgin olive oil is an extremely popular cooking oil and used raw to drizzle onto a multitude of dishes or mixed into salad dressings. Olives are crushed in a mill and pressed to extract the oil. The color of extra-virgin olive oil is usually a golden-green. The flavor can be mild or sharp, though the sign of a good oil means a bite to the flavor and a spiciness.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
Cilantro is a leafy herb with a thin green stalk and small, partially fringed green leaves that look similar to a three leaf clover. It has a distinct smell that is similar to a lime and a flavor to match that. In addition, it smells and tastes the same and has a strong flavor with a hint of greens. Due to a genetic trait, some people find that cilantro tastes like soap. This herb is used in many cuisines, particularly from Asia and Central and South America.
Garlic powder is made from dehydrated garlic cloves that have been ground into a super fine powder. This powder is a pale yellow/golden color and is used to flavor foods. It works well in a pinch and can be used in many of the same ways that fresh garlic is used. The flavor is milder than raw or cooked garlic and is spicy, pungent and nutty. Garlic granules are another form of dehydrated garlic, but rather than powder it is coarser and has the same function. It is often used on top of fresh pizza, as a light dusting.
Onion powder is made from the bulb vegetable, onion. Onions are round with a thin, papery skin covering their many layers of juicy and crunchy flesh. This flesh, which is white, yellow or red is made by taking dehydrated onion pieces and then grinding them into an extremely fine powder. The powder is a pale golden/tan color. Onion powder has a flavor that is milder than fresh onions, but highly flavorful in a richer and more concentrated way. It tastes both sweet and mellow, with a spicy edge. Onion powder is used as a seasoning for savory dishes.
Cumin is a spice used in many cuisines around the world. The seed from which cumin is ground is a thin seed with a long body and tapered ends. Cumin is just a few millimeters in length and has a light brown or tan tone, which can look a bit grey. Ground cumin is light brown and has a flavor that is spicy, earthy and a little nutty. When pan heated, the flavor of cumin is both tempered and enhanced.
The peppercorn plant grows in tropical climate and produces tiny black fruit. The fruit is dried and become hard. At this point it is ground into a textured powder comprised of black and grey dots. It has a flavor that is spicy, pungent and sharp. Pepper is an extremely popular spice, especially in Western cuisines and lends a gentle heat to dishes. There are different varieties of black pepper and the flavor changes subtly because of this.
Cayenne is a small and moderately hot chili pepper. When mature it is bright red in color and has a thin tapered body that is between 2-3 inches long. On the Scoville heat scale for hot peppers it is considered 'scorching'. Cayenne has a crunch to it when raw, though is best cooked to reduce the heat of the plant, it is also sold as a powder. This hot pepper is used commonly in Central and South America, as well as Africa.
