Santa Fe Chicken Salad (Earls Restaurant Inspired)

This Santa Fe Chicken Salad is inspired by Earls Restaurant, and features chicken baked in a flavourful southwestern-spiced marinade, greens, avocado, feta, roasted corn and sweet potatoes, dates, and cilantro pumpkin seed dressing. 

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you have all had a great week. I figured a fun, ultra satisfying salad recipe would be in order to celebrate the end of the week, while still keeping things light and summery. 🙂

If you hail from western Canada or southern Ontario (or even a few American cities), you have probably heard of Earls Restaurant, and possibly even enjoyed a happy hour or two there. Earls has always been one of my favourite places to enjoy a nice cold Rhino Pale Ale and a fun meal. As a young teen, whenever we would visit family in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, my standard order was the Santa Fe Chicken Salad. Earls doesn’t have a single location in Ottawa, but whenever I have travelled to Toronto for running races, I have always made a point of going there for a post-race bite and drink. 

Because it has been so long since I have been able to get my Earls fix in another city, I decided to try my hand at creating an inspired take on the Santa Fe Chicken Salad. It turned out great, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! 

Santa Fe chicken salad ingredients

For the chicken, you’ll need organic boneless skinless chicken breasts, extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, oregano, and garlic.

For the cilantro pumpkin seed dressing, you’ll need toasted pepitas, garlic, cumin, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, pepper, cilantro, and extra virgin olive oil. 

For the roasted sweet potato and corn, you’ll need sweet potato, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and corn. 

You’ll also need kale, lettuce, dates, black beans, feta, and avocado. As I said, this is a satisfying salad! In fact, it qualifies as a meal, especially when you serve some garlic bread on the side. 

the method

Prepare the chicken: Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. In a bowl, whisk together the oil, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, oregano, and garlic. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Marinate for at least 15 minutes, or cover and place in the fridge to marinate for several hours or overnight. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 425 F and spread out the marinated chicken on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cooked through and no longer pink inside. 

Roast the sweet potato and corn: Place the sliced sweet potato on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush both sides with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Toss the corn with 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and add it to the baking sheet for the final 15 minutes of roasting. 

Make the dressing: In a food processor fitted with the ‘S’ blade, blend the pepitas and garlic into a coarse meal. Add the cumin, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, cilantro, and oil. Process until smooth and emulsified. 

Assemble the salad: Place the chopped kale and lettuce in a large bowl. Add about half of the dressing and massage it in to the greens with your hands. Arrange the dates, black beans, feta, avocado, roasted corn and sweet potato, and chicken on top. Serve individual portions with additional dressing, tortilla chips, and lime wedges. Enjoy! 

a few final thoughts…

• To make this salad vegan/plant-based, swap out the chicken for an equal amount of firm or extra-firm tofu, and omit the feta cheese. 
• To change things up, try this chicken in fajitas, pitas, or wraps. It’s a good all-purpose recipe. 

more satisfying salad recipes

• Moroccan Lentil Carrot Salad (Vegan)
• Greek Quinoa Salad Stuffed Avocados
• Egg, Fried Halloumi and Berry Baby Kale Salad with Lemon Caper Basil Pesto Dressing

I hope that you love this Santa Fe Chicken Salad! If you make it, let me know how you enjoyed it by leaving a comment and rating below the post. And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen. I love seeing what you’ve made. 

Enjoy! 

Santa Fe Chicken Salad (Earls Restaurant Inspired)

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• Author: Allison
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 6 servings 1x

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Description

This Santa Fe Chicken Salad is inspired by Earls Restaurant, and features chicken baked in a flavourful southwestern-spiced marinade, greens, avocado, feta, roasted corn and sweet potatoes, dates, and cilantro pumpkin seed dressing.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Chili Lime Chicken

• 600 grams organic free range boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¼ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh
• 3 garlic cloves, minced

Roasted Corn and Sweet Potato

• 1 large sweet potato, unpeeled and sliced into ¼-inch slices
• 1 cup corn kernels (thawed if frozen)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Cilantro Lime Pepita Dressing

• ¼ cup toasted pepitas
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 4 ½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• ½ cup cilantro
• ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil

Everything Else

• 4 lightly packed cups chopped kale
• 4 lightly packed cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 1 ½ cups cooked black beans (or 1 14-oz can, drained and rinsed)
• ½ cup pitted Medjool dates, chopped
• ½ cup cubed feta cheese
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced
• 1 lime, sliced into wedges, for serving
• Tortilla chips, for serving

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Instructions

1. Prepare the chicken: Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. In a bowl, whisk together the oil, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, oregano, and garlic. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Marinate for at least 15 minutes, or cover and place in the fridge to marinate for several hours or overnight. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 425 F and spread out the marinated chicken on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cooked through and no longer pink inside.
2. Roast the sweet potato and corn: Place the sliced sweet potato on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush both sides with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Toss the corn with 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and add it to the baking sheet for the final 15 minutes of roasting.
3. Make the dressing: In a food processor fitted with the ‘S’ blade, blend the pepitas and garlic into a coarse meal. Add the cumin, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, cilantro, and oil. Process until smooth and emulsified.
4. Assemble the salad: Place the chopped kale and lettuce in a large bowl. Add about half of the dressing and massage it in to the greens with your hands. Arrange the dates, black beans, feta, avocado, roasted corn and sweet potato, and chicken on top. Serve individual portions with additional dressing, tortilla chips, and lime wedges. Enjoy!

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Category: Main Course

I would like to once again extend a big thank you to Ottawa Farm Fresh, the organic farm that is providing me with a beautiful CSA basket this summer. The kale that you see in these photos is fresh from the farm!

I hope that you all have a great weekend! This coming week, I’ll share recipes for Mexican Salmon Quinoa Burgers, Vegan White Bean Basil Lasagna, Thai Red Curry Chicken and Soba Noodle Bowls, Lemon Blueberry Chia Pudding Parfaits, and Creamy One Skillet Orzo with Tofu and Spinach. Talk to you all on Monday!