Salad obsession: Chicken and Black Bean Salad with Chili Vinaigrette

Last month during my work out cross-fit momentum kick I was watching what I ate. I had to cut down my carbohydrate intake. I was running late to my knit meetup which is at a Starbucks and didn't eat lunch yet. Fortunately they have a little deli section at the register. I always get the tomato and fresh mozzarella panini but thought it was a better choice to get the Zesty Chicken and Black Bean Salad Bowl with a mild Chili Vinaigrette instead. 360 calories. This includes the dressing. I'm sold. It's in a small square plastic box and didn't think it would be all that filling....oh how wrong I was.

This $6.95 compact box included:

Spring salad, quinoa, black beans, roasted corn, 3-4 grape tomatoes, shredded jicama, feta cheese and small container of chili vinaigrette dressing.

All the greens were on top and all the goodies on the bottom. It was kind of a bitch to mix everything up in such a small container but the end result was delicious!

I figured that the ingredients are so simple to put together why not to replicate it at home?

I had most everything on hand. I didn't have jicama, feta or grape tomatoes. Instead I chopped up a roma tomato (sans seeds and goo) and an avocado. I searched online for a chili vinaigrette and Betty Crocker's version was an almost perfect match (recipe below). Honestly, the only difference is that it wasn't bright red with whatever dye Starbucks used.

Voila!






























Chili Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

Mix all ingredients.


It has a very southwestern-ish taste to it. Try it. I swear you'll like it. I like it so much I've had it for dinner 3 nights in a row.