Spicy Southwestern Chicken with Peanut Lemon Dressing

Grilled spicy southwestern chicken corn salad with a nutty peanut lemon dressing

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Southweastern

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Total Time 35

Servings

Calories

1 ½ - 2 ½ tablespoon Spice Rub I used 2 ½ tbsp.
2 tsp. Oil
2 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
2 hearts Romaine Lettuce chopped (I used one)
½ small – medium sized Red Onion diced
½ cup Black Beans rinsed and drained (I did not use)
½ - 1 cup Sweetcorn Kernels or 1 fresh Sweetcorn on the Cob can also use canned corn kernels
1 Avocado halved seeded and sliced
1 - 2 tablespoon Roasted Peanuts I used one but ad according to taste
Lemon or Lime wedges for serving

Take all the ingredients listed under spice rub in a bowl and mix well until blended.
There is going to be some leftover rub after rubbing some to the chicken. Store leftover rub in an airtight container until next use.

Add oil to 2 ½ tbsp. spice rub to make a paste.
Make some gashes on chicken breast, rub spice paste to chicken and marinate for at least 1 hour or preferably overnight. Marination is not required but since I am a marinating freak, I do it.
Pre-heat the oven to 400 F and line a baking pan with an aluminum foil.
Transfer chicken to a wire rack and place it in the baking pan. Spray some cooking spray on chicken and bake for 25 – 30 minutes turning once in between. Mine was done in 30 minutes or bake until the chicken is cooked or thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 160 F.
Remove chicken from oven and set aside for 5 – 10 minutes before slicing.

While chicken is baking, prepare the dressing by whisking together all the ingredients listed under dressing or pulse all the ingredients in a mini-food processor.
If dressing is too thick, add some water to dilute it. Set aside until ready to use.

Cut corn kernels off the cob using a knife. Roast corn kernels in a pan for few minutes until corn just begins to char.
Remove from stove and keep aside. Roasting corn is not required but I prefer lightly toasting the corn kernels to remove the rawness of the kernels.
Toss lettuce with some peanut lemon dressing.
Arrange the lettuce in couple of plates. Top it with sliced chicken, corn, onion, avocado, peanuts and beans (if using) evenly in both the plates. If required, drizzle some dressing on onion, corn and avocado.
Serve with lime or lemon wedges. I used 3 tablespoon lemon juice in the dressing and did not feel the need for more lemon.

I used little less than 1 heart of romaine lettuce. Add lettuce as required. Since I used very little lettuce, I had some leftover dressing.
The recipe called for 1 ½ tbsp. spice rub but I added 2 ½ to make it spicy. Also, I added more chili powder and cayenne pepper for a spicy rub. Substituted cayenne pepper with chili powder and vice versa. I think a good substitute for paprika would a mixture of chili powder and cumin powder.
Paneer or tofu is a good substitute for Chicken and grill on a stove top in a pan.
Feta or Queso Fresco cheese is a good add on to the salad.
Oven temperatures vary from oven to oven and bake until chicken is well cooked.