Quick Dinner

Mexican Chopped Salad With Citrus Chicken

A polished fast salad with strong knife work, crisp textures, and composed plating.

Prep 20 min

Cook 12 min

Yield 4 servings

Focus Tips

Uniform cuts are the whole point; if the pieces vary wildly, the salad feels rough instead of polished.
Dress lightly and toss only at the last second.
Plate with height and clean edges so it reads like a composed salad, not a bowl dump.

Pull Out Before Starting

Prep Before Cooking

1 lb thin chicken cutlets
Chicken seasoning: 1 tbsp oil, zest of 1 lime, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1 tsp salt
2 heads romaine, chopped into even bite-size pieces
1 cucumber, small dice
2 Roma tomatoes, small dice
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, medium dice or clean slices for plating
1/4 cup pepitas, toasted
1/3 cup cotija, crumbled
Vinaigrette: 1 jalapeno, finely minced; 2 tbsp lime juice; 1 tsp honey; 3 tbsp oil; salt

Technique Spotlight

Chopped salad precision

Target

The lettuce, cucumber, and tomato should be close in size so each forkful picks up a little of everything.

Common Miss

Oversized lettuce and random vegetable chunks make the salad hard to eat and visually sloppy.

Trim and stack the romaine before cutting so the ribbons stay controlled.
Dice the cucumber and tomatoes to match each other, then keep them separate until the final toss.

Method

Rub the chicken with the oil, lime zest, lime juice, and salt.
Cook the chicken in a hot skillet until lightly browned and just cooked through, then rest and slice thinly.
Whisk together the minced jalapeno, lime juice, honey, oil, and salt to make the vinaigrette.
Combine the chopped romaine, diced cucumber, diced tomatoes, and chopped cilantro in a large bowl.
Toss the salad lightly with just enough vinaigrette to coat, then plate in loose mounds.
Top with sliced chicken, avocado, toasted pepitas, and cotija.