Recipe for "salad-mexican"

NAME

     SALAD-MEXICAN - A simple main-dish salad with  Mexican  sea-
     sonings
     I got this recipe from an old roommate, Ann-Marie Tarter. My
     husband  revised  it to use chicken instead of the hamburger
     that her version called for.   It's  a  very  simple,  tasty
     hot-weather  main  dish.  It  doesn't keep as leftovers: you
     have to eat all of it immediately or else throw it  away.  I
     like to serve it accompanied by Aztec soup (SOUP-AZTEC).

INGREDIENTS (Serves 6-8)

     500 g     boneless chicken, diced
     500 g     kidney beans
     2.5 ml    salt
     5 ml      chili powder
     1         medium onion, chopped
     3         medium tomatoes, diced
     500 g     lettuce, chopped (about half of a large head)
     100 g     cheddar cheese, grated
     250 ml    thousand island dressing
     50 ml     picante sauce (or more or less, to taste)
     1         large avocado, sliced
     300 g     corn tortilla chips

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Bone and dice the chicken.  Heat a small amount of
               vegetable  oil  in  a  large  frying  pan until it
               starts to smoke. Add the  chicken  cubes  and  fry
               over  medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until
               they are browned (2 or 3 minutes).
          (2)  To the chicken,  add  the  drained  kidney  beans,
               salt,  and chili powder. Reduce heat and simmer 10
               minutes.
          (3)  Chop the tomatoes, onion, and lettuce.  Grate  the
               cheese.  Toss  them  together in a salad bowl with
               the salad dressing and picante sauce.
          (4)  Slice the avocado and add to the salad.  Break the
               tortilla chips into flakes, and add to the salad.
          (5)  Mix the cooked chicken and  beans  into  the  cold
               salad.   Decorate  with  extra chips and slices of
               avocado and tomato.
          (6)  Serve immediately.

NOTES

     The chips get soggy within 5 to 10 minutes  after  the  meat
     has been added to the salad, so don't do that step until you
     are ready to eat.
     This recipe works best with iceberg lettuce. The more exotic
     varieties of lettuce wilt instantly when the hot chicken and
     beans are mixed in; iceberg lettuce keeps its crunch.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time: 15 minutes preparation.  Precision:
     no need to measure.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Loretta Guarino Reid
     DEC Western Software Laboratory, Palo Alto, California, USA
     guarino@decwrl.dec.com   -or- decwrl!guarino