Chicken Fajita Salad with Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

We love Mexican food and eat it quite often, in many different ways, at our house. Fajitas are always a quick and easy favorite of ours. Fajitas are a Tex-Mex creation, that came about from when the Mexican ranch workers were living in West Texas along the Rio Grande in the late 1930s and early 1940s.  Money was tight for everyone, so often times, the workers were paid in meat. Fajitas are any combination of thinly stripped meats and/or vegetables that are usually grilled and combined with peppers and onions and Mexican spices and are eaten with either corn or flour tortillas. Once meat became more readily available, the fajita craze traveled and became popular all over the South Western parts of the United States as well as California. Today, they are a staple in just about any Mexican restaurant anywhere you go.

And now, fajitas cane be made into salads as well. When I make my fajitas, I make them with a lot of vegetables and Mexican spices and seasonings. The other day, I used up the leftover rotisserie chicken as my meat, but made the fajitas as I normally do, then turned it all into a delicious salad. I made a creamy cilantro dressing to top it all.

For the fajitas, as usual, there is no ONE way to make them, so I will not even try to say there is. But here is the way I made them this time. I thinly sliced some red, green and yellow bell peppers, red onions, and mushrooms, that I sauteed together with garlic, thyme, cumin and oregano in olive oil and my new Lime Olive oil as well. My chicken was already cooked, so I just shredded it and tossed it with cilantro. Then I fried up the thinly sliced tortilla strips until they were golden brown. When the vegetables were tender, I added the chicken and cilantro just to heat them up.

Creamy Lime Cilantro Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

3 TBSP lime juice

3 TBSP fresh cilantro, chopped fine

1 TBSP lime olive oil (optional)

2-3 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP garlic

Mix everything together well and chill until ready to use.

For the fajitas, I wanted them warm so as soon as they were cooked, I layered them onto a bed of mixed baby greens, and then topped everything with the dressing and tortilla strips. In addition, Larry’s salad had two kinds of cheese, both cheddar and Cotija cheese, which is a Mexican cheese similar to goat cheese, and my salad had some avocado slices. !Esta muy deliciozo! !Que Bueno!

Make the most of your day and stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.