Cherry Creek Grill’s Macho Salad

The first time I had Cherry Creek Grill’s Macho Salad, I fell in love! It’s the perfect combination of flavors and textures. I’ve been craving it lately, so I decided to recreate it. It’s so easy to make, especially if you buy an organic rotisserie chicken and store bought cornbread. If you’re a vegetarian, you can replace the chicken with garbanzo beans. The cornbread croutons are my favorite part about this salad, I could snack on them all day!

Serves 2

For the salad:

• 1 container spring mix
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken, shredded
• 1 cup corn
• 1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped
• 1/2-1 cup dates roughly chopped
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 4 oz goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 1/2 cups cornbread croutons

To Assemble:

Place everything except the avocado, goat cheese and croutons together and toss with desired amount of dressing. Divide into bowls and top each bowl with the avocado, goat cheese and croutons.

For the Dressing:

• 1 tbsp each country mustard and Dijon mustard
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp champagne vinegar
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• 1/3 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Whisk everything except the olive oil together in a bowl until combined, then drizzle olive oil in while whisking until emulsified.

For the chicken: (if not using a rotisserie chicken)

Season 2-4 chicken breasts with rotisserie seasoning (recipe below) place in a crockpot and drizzle with olive oil, cook on high for 2 hours, then shred it into medium pieces.

Rotisserie seasoning:

• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne (Optional)
• 1 tsp kosher salt

For the cornbread croutons:

You can buy cornbread at the store, make it from scratch or make a package of Jiffy Cornbread (that’s what I did) This can be done the day before.

Cut the cornbread into cubes, place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and bake on 350F for about 10 minutes or until golden. Let them cool before placing them on the salad.

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