Grilled chicken salad (or summer's here and we feel spicy)

Recipe: Grilled chicken salad with rustic guacamole and a roasted sweet potato

The weather's warming up and summer's here, at least for the moment here in northern California. Yay! When friends came over for an afternoon pre-concert dinner a few days ago (Willie Nelson at the UC's Greek Theatre, no less), I wanted to make something different - summery and maybe a little spicy. I went immediately to Rick Bayless' excellent cookbook, Mexican Everyday, and once more, Rick came to the rescue with a main-dish salad that zings with the tastes of Mexico..

This salad has no real precedent in traditional Mexican cooking, Rick says; nevertheless it takes the flavors and traditional ingredients and produces a deliciously rich and flavorful meal, with a little spice thrown in for fun. Healthy too! My family and guests really loved it, including one who had gluten and dairy dietary restrictions. As a matter of fact, she asked me for the recipe - a huge compliment in my book.

You can fire up the grill for this, but you don't need to. A stovetop grill pan, which is what I used, works just fine. This recipe serves 2. I just doubled it to serve 4.

Grilled Chicken Salad with Rustic Guacamole, Romaine, and a Roasted Sweet Potato

Adapted from a recipe in Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday

Sweet potato sounded good to me, so I added it to the menu. Wash one large orange-fleshed sweet potato, or 2 small ones, and stab it with the tip of a paring knife in several places so it won't explode in the oven. Talk about excitement you don't need! Then put it or them into a baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour (45 minutes if using small potatoes). While the potato is baking, make the salad.

For the dressing

• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus a little extra for grilling the onion
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
• 1/2 jalapeno (or more if you want it quite spicy), seeded and halved
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro or flat-leaf parsley
• freshly ground black pepper
• sea salt

Heat the oil in a small skillet, add the garlic and chiles and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is soft and lightly browned, 2 minutes. Pour the oil, garlic, and chile into a blender or food processor. Add the lime juice, cilantro, black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Process until smooth.

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 small white onion, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 medium romaine heart, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide ribbons
• 1/4 cup grated Mexican queso anejo or Parmesan cheese (optional)

Put the chicken breasts in a bowl and pour one-third of the garlic dressing over them, spreading it evenly over both sides.

Make the guacamole
Heat the grill or grill pan over medium high heat until it is quite hot. Lightly brush the onion slices with oil and sprinkle them with salt. Lay the onion on the grill or grill pan and turn the slices over a couple of times, grilling until they are well browned, about 3 minutes each side. Take the onion off the grill and chop it roughly. Put the onion in a bowl. Pit the avocados and scoop the flesh in with the grilled onion. Add another one-third of the garlic dressing and coarsely mash everything together with a potato masher or a large fork. Taste and season with salt, about  1/4 teaspoon.

Grill the chicken
Now heat the grill or grill pan up again and put the chicken breasts on. Cook about 4 minutes on each side, until well seared. If the chicken breasts are exceptionally thick or thin, adjust the cooking time accordingly - 5 minutes each side for thick, 3 minutes each side for thin. Take the chicken off the heat and let it sit on a chopping block for 10 minutes to finish. Then cut each breast into cubes.

Assemble the salad
Put the sliced romaine into a large bowl. Drizzle the remaining garlic dressing over it and toss well. Divide the lettuce between two dinner plates. Scoop half of the guacamole into the center of the lettuce. Arrange the cubed chicken over the guacamole. Sprinkle the whole thing with grated cheese, if you wish, or serve it separately for individual use.

Cut the roasted sweet potato in half on the crosswise diagonal, just for show, and arrange it on the plate alongside the salad. It will be beautiful! Enjoy!

The payoff
In addition to great taste, this dish has the benefit of being gluten-free and dairy-free (if you don't use the optional cheese).

Avocado, which is native to Mexico and Central America, has more potassium than bananas and lots of fiber. High avocado intake has been shown to lower blood cholesterol levels. All good. And yummy.