Summer & Santa Fe Salad

It must be duly noted that we are coming down off of our daughter's wedding, of which we prepared for, within 6 months and had a real shin-dig of - and - before leaving Saskatchewan, decided to list our home there, so "edited" for the 3 days directly following the wedding, to get the house & garage into a shape we were somewhat proud of.  We have a serious offer already, so I guess you could say we succeeded in our efforts.  The wedding, in & of itself, is for another blog.  I am not in the right place to get all of my many moods & emotions down on paper about such a significant & beautiful day (& 6 months preceding) as that was.  Nope, today, I am just pleased to sit at the keys & offer up a rare recipe, that although is a copycat from Earls restaurant, I can call my own, after much trial & error.

We have not had a moment's rest since our wedding/house-listing marathon because we arrived back, to our beautiful Okanagan home, with company in tow.  I am not complaining, exactly, just stating the facts.  And the fact, in this very rare case, is that I am tired.  And if Reg, the screaming extrovert, admits a need to be free of house guests, then the very real writing on the wall is that I am indeed in need of a bit of rest.  It will come…

I am relaxed & rested, to some degree, by gathering, prepping & cooking for our visitors.  Right at this given moment, however, even that has come up a wee bit tiring.  So tonight, after yesterday's delicious birthday event of grilled salmon & shrimp, cabbage salad, roasted broccoli & new potatoes with a finale of double chocolate layer cake - I told everyone, with no apology, that tonight would be salad. But that salad would be none other than the delicious Santa Fe Salad.  I don't think you will be disappointed in the recipe that follows:

Dressing:

1/4 C olive oil
the juice of 2 limes
the zest of 1 lime
1/4 C fresh mint
2 tbsp soy sauce
a pinch of salt & pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp agave nectar
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

Place all ingredients in a blender & whir until smooth & creamy - *Dressing can easily be doubled if you are cooking for a crowd*

Salad:

3 romaine hearts, or 1 large head of romaine, rinsed, spun & torn
1/2 - 1 can of black beans, well drained (black beans are very hard to keep - when contained, they gain momentum in the aroma department!)
1 C frozen corn, thawed but not cooked
1/2 to 3/4 C crumbled feta
6 - 8 pitted dates, halved & sliced
2 tbsp chopped peanuts (optional)
a handful of tortilla chip salad toppers - I have used wonton salad toppers too
1 or 2 fresh avocados pitted & cubed

Grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts brushed with olive oil & sprinkled with cajun seasoning.
Appx 10 mins per side at a BBQ temp of about 350 (depending on thickness) seems to work for us.  Bring in, let rest a few mins (if you can!) & slice into thin strips.

Toss the salad ingredients with dressing - be careful!! you may not need all the dressing.  Refrigerate the remainder in a sealed container & make yourself another rendition of this salad later in the week, if you can wait that long…Serve in large salad bowls topped with a few strips of the grilled chicken annnnnd eat up - even if you are pooped!! :)