Chili Lime Dressing

Salad is on this week’s dinner menu.  I feel better about my slips when I know there’s a big pile of greens waiting at the end of the day.  There has been a snickers bar and a bag of m&m’s thrown into the mix, but a girl’s gotta indulge now and then!

I took Monday off from my lunch time walk because it was pouring, but boy did I pay for it!  About mid-afternoon all I wanted to lay my head on my desk and nap.  That’s when the snickers came into play.  I made up for it today and did just over 2 miles during lunch.  Made the rest of the afternoon bearable!

There are a few flavor combinations I just love and can’t get enough of.  One of those is lime and cilantro.  One time I was shopping with step-mom and she was looking for dried cilantro.  I asked her why she didn’t just buy fresh and her response was it’s too strong.  I was stunned.  No such thing!

When I was riding home on the bus yesterday, I knew I was having a big salad topped with chicken I was thinking of grilling.  What to dress this goodness with…  I googled creamy chili lime dressing and found a few good ideas, but what really struck my pallet was a dressing I found at Annie Blog.  I was seeking some flavor combination ideas and how to make a creamy(ish) dressing with what I had on hand.

Here’s what I ended up with:

Juice of half a large lime (about 1.5 ounces)
Couple of generous tablespoons light mayo (2-3T if you’re really measuring)
1/2 teaspoon (or generous sprinkling) of Penzey’s Adobo chili powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8(ish) teaspoon cumin
white pepper
kosher salt
2-3 tablespoons (again eyeball-ed,very generous) chopped fresh cilantro
Whisk all together

This made 1/3 of a cup or really enough for 2 salads but I was gluttonous and made a huge salad and ate it ALL! So I had to make more for tonight’s salad. Lucky for you, I measured(ish) tonight.

I had pulled the chicken out of the freezer in the morning before I left for work.  When I got home it was mostly thawed.  I sprinkled it with a touch of salt, cumin, adobo chili powder, Frank’s Hot Sauce and threw half an onion in the dish for good measure.  I covered this and tossed in a 325* oven and headed off to Pilates.  An hour and a quarter later I was home and dishing up dinner.

My salad was topped with half an avocado, half a tomato, 1 chicken thigh, salsa and my yummy dressing.  Wasn’t the prettiest, but it sure was tasty!  This salad dressing will be making it into the regular rotation from here on out.  Enjoy-