Xan: Santa Fe Salad

Catherine loves Chop't, a sort of "Coldstone of salad" chain that is currently found only in DC and NYC. Because we do not currently live in either of those places, I modified a fine knockoff recipe of her favorite salad, the Santa Fe Salad.

Here is my version:

I like it a lot, but I have never had the real thing myself, so I rely on Catherine's evaluation. She says it is really good!

Ingredients

• 1 head of Romaine lettuce
• 1 cup of baby spinach
• 1 cup corn (canned, fresh, or frozen/microwaved)
• 3/4 cup grape tomatoes
• 1 avocado
• 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese
• Two cooked chicken breasts, chopped (optional)
• Tex-mex Ranch dressing (purchase from Chop't or make your own, see below)
• 1/4 cup fried onions

To make your own Tex-mex ranch, mix a quarter cup of ranch with the juice of one lime, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp cumin. In the future I will experiment with adding some cayenne.

Procedure

1. Chop vegetables and cheese into small pieces! Salad is hard to eat! Make it easy!
2. Mix ingredients together (including chicken if you are using it), aside from dressing and fried onions.
3. When ready to eat, toss individual servings with dressing and sprinkle fried onions over top.