Hello salty readers! I was so honored to be invited as a guest-poster for Nikki, a much more dedicated blogger than I, as you can tell by browsing the frequency of posts on
my own blog. I think maybe it's Nikki's gentle way of encouraging me to get back to work.
The truth is, I love food, and I really enjoy making food appropriate to the season. Summer is the season of grilled foods and fresh flavors to me, and this meal is designed to be easy to make and easy to find the ingredients for; they're probably all in your pantry and fridge right now. It worked well for my family, since I just left the lettuce and dressing out for my kids. And not only is this meal healthy and balanced, it's delicious leftover. That's a winner for me, since I really like having leftovers for lunch.
If you haven't made your own salad dressing before, you definitely need to try it. Not only are they easy and so inexpensive, I think they taste way better than bottled dressings. And they keep in your refrigerator in a mason jar for 3-4 weeks, at least, so it's a good idea to make a generous amount and keep it on hand. I've considered doing a whole post on salad dressings. A classic French vinaigrette with dijon and red wine vinegar is my favorite, but sometimes a zesty ranch or a simple Greek vinaigrette are just the thing, and it's such a simple way to feel creative or like a true chef in a kitchen.
This salad is topped with ranch dressing, and I use a new very favorite technique for getting enough flavor in a fresh dressing. I'm seriously giddy just thinking about it, because it's so useful and works so amazingly well that I think it should be shouted from the rooftops to every cook in the English-speaking world (since I wouldn't know how to shout in, say, Finnish or Portuguese). I use a
microplane zester to grate two or three cloves of garlic, essentially adding fresh, slightly pungent garlic juice to the dressing, which can easily be distributed by whisking and doesn't leave breath-killing pieces scattered throughout. You may be thinking this is a silly thing to get worked up over, but it's been so fantastic for me!
Since I have a tendency to ramble on, I'll stop blubbering and talk about the black beans before passing out the recipe.
Refried beans are delicious, are they not? I love black beans, I love refried beans, and I love chipotle. It's always a good idea to combine them all, and it is not overwhelming to make them. I've slow-simmered beans dozens of times, just for fun, but I use canned beans if I'm in more of a hurry (meaning I don't have 7 hours to make dinner). There's very little difference in flavor, so I don't recommend the slow simmer unless you love to do it or are looking to save a dollar or two. They're cheap either way.
If you haven't used chipotles very much, this is another strong recommendation from me: go to the supermarket, walk down the aisle with Mexican food, and look for a can with "chipotles en adobo" written on it. Small is good, but get whatever they have. Take them home, open the can up, and throw them in your blender. You may have to move things around once or twice to get them to blend up, but you now have one of the most wonderful foods on earth in a very convenient form. It will keep in your refrigerator, in a jar, for a very long time. A dollop here and there does wonders for dishes.
One last note: this salad can really be added to as summer produce comes into season. Garden fresh tomatoes would be delicious, or peas. Even avocados would go well.
Leafy Grilled Chicken Salad and Easy Refried Black Beans
2-3 lbs. chicken breasts
1 large (12 oz.) sweet onion, chopped (about 2 c.)
6-7 cloves garlic, chopped
olive oil
coarse Kosher or sea salt
2 ears corn on the cob
2 15-oz. cans black beans
green leaf lettuce
Ranch Dressing, recipe follows
Chipotle Sour Cream, recipe follows
On a clean cutting board, slice the larger portions of any chicken breasts horizontally to create medium-thick pieces that will cook evenly on the grill. Set aside; wash hands and board thoroughly!
Add the chopped onions and garlic to a medium-sized bowl. Add the chicken breasts, a generous dose of salt (see picture for approximation, but enough to properly season the chicken), and 1/4 c. olive oil. Use your hands to rub the ingredients together. Set the meat aside to marinate for 30 minutes. (Room temperature is fine for chicken for about 30 minutes, and you don't typically want to marinate chicken longer than this, anyhow, as it changes the texture and over-seasons it.) Wash hands thoroughly. (I'm a little crazy about this around meat, but hopefully you are, too.)
Make the salad dressing if you haven't yet. See recipe below.
Make the chipotle sour cream if you haven't yet. See recipe below.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a large dose of salt to the water, then boil the corn for 5 minutes. Remove the corn from the water. Salt it quickly, then set it on a cooling rack to air dry completely.
Separate the chicken from the onions and garlic. In a large sauté pan over medium high, heat about 2 T. olive oil, then add the onions and garlic, as well as a pinch of salt. Cook gently; once they start softening a little and just barely browning, turn the heat down to medium so you don't burn the garlic. Continue to cook slowly until most of the onions have caramelized. If the garlic starts to burn, you'll ruin the dish, and it's better to have soft, not brown onions than caramelized sweet onions and burnt garlic, so you can continue to the next step with the beans if you're at a point you're concerned about the garlic.
Drain one can of beans in a sieve or colander until pretty dry, but don't rinse them. Return the onions to medium-high heat. Add the drained can of beans and the other can with its juices to the pan. Stir the beans for a minute to fry them in the heat. Using a potato masher or the bottom of a glass or bowl, mash the beans until they're consistent and soft. Remove from heat to a serving bowl.
Grill the chicken and corn until the chicken is tender and just barely done. You can check it by inserting a thermometer, which should read 165˚, or by cutting into it with a sharp knife and making sure there is no pink left. It should still be juicy.
Let the chicken and corn rest for about 2 minutes after grilling. In the meantime, prepare enough lettuce for the amount of salads you'll be making.
Slice the chicken breasts and cut the corn from the cob. Top the lettuce with the sliced chicken, corn, and ranch dressing.
Serve the refried beans on the side with a dollop of chipotle sour cream
Ranch Dressing
1 T. sugar
3 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. Dijon mustard
fresh herbs, if you have them (I used thyme and curly parsley; chives or tarragon would also be great)
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. sour cream
1/2 c. mayonnaise
15 turns fresh black pepper
2-3 cloves garlic (depending on size), freshly grated
Whisk together the sugar, vinegar, salt, and mustard. Whisk in the finely chopped herbs, about 1/2 t. each, then the olive oil. Whisk in the sour cream and mayonnaise, then whisk in the black pepper and grated garlic. Taste for salt.
Chipotle Sour Cream
1/2 c. sour cream
1 1/2 t. blended chipotles en adobo (see notes above)
pinch salt
Stir ingredients together. Taste for salt.
Enjoy!!
