If you’re familiar with the famous Nordstrom salad, then you’re in luck! If not, let us shed some light on this delicious, hearty, summery salad that needs to hit your grocery list next.
Recently, we were craving this salad and thought to try our hands at it. Nordstrom clearly has their own version, and ours isn’t toooo different, but there are some parts that we adjusted to make it all the more summery, fit for a bigger group, and really highlighting the parts we love most.
The marinade for the chicken (to DIE for) really stands out in this recipe because it provides this light, zesty flavoring to the tenders themselves — which, yes, buy tenders instead of chicken breast…because why would we make life harder than it needs to be? Outside of the chicken itself, the oven-roasted corn is warm, sweet, and savory mixed with the red peppers for some fresh crunch…and that’s without even mentioning the pepitas! In the original Nordstrom recipe, they called for regular pepitas, but we opted for the roasted and salted variety, which ended up creating that perfect salty final touch.
Let us know if you give this a try! It’s great for most seasons, but we especially suggest making it when you have fresh in-season corn. Then, it’s over-the-top!
Nordstrom’s Cilantro Lime Chicken Salad
Ingredients
For Vinaigrette
- 2/3 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 3 clove garlic, minced
- 3 teaspoons chipotle chilis in adobo, minced
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cup safflower oil
- 1 cup tightly packed fresh cilantro, chopped
For Salad
- 16 ounces Spring lettuce mix
- 2 pounds Grilled chicken tenders, marinated
- 3/4 cup Diced roasted red peppers
- Pepitas, to sprinkle
- 4 ears corn on the cob, shucked
- 2-3 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
For the Chicken Marinade
- 1 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
- 4 teaspoons honey
- 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
For Vinaigrette
- Combine first six ingredients in a blender or food processor. Slowly add oil. Pulse in fresh cilantro until combined.
For Salad
- Combine ingredients for the marinade in a 9×12 baking dish and whisk well. Add chicken, cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven or grill to 400℉. Rub the corn with oil and roast or grill until until slightly charred, 20-30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Grill chicken 5-6 minutes per side until lightly charred. Cover with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes.
