Stacie and I really like food, and I really enjoy cooking (that’s part of how this blog came about). But, sometimes I just don’t want to cook, or I say “the kitchen is a disaster after last night and we need to clean it before we can prepare dinner tonight.”
This, my friends, is how Stacie and I managed to spend just over $400 on going out to eat last month. Now, to our credit, we also spent about as much money on grocery food. But, of course, we hosted a large party at the beginning of the month… And, then, we had a $130 grocery bill Sunday–but $40 was because of meat; almost enough to make me go vegetarian, really! (I should also note that $400 is really easy to hit–neither of us have been particularly diligent about not going out during lunch, though we really should be bringing or eating leftovers. We’ll be watching it a little better in March).
So, I’ve been looking at making some of the food that we enjoy when we go out to eat. There have been two amazing salads that are sort of the same thing, one from Chili’s, the other from a local pub here called “Yogi’s.” The Chili’s version is called a South Western Cobb salad; it’s not a true Cobb salad, since the cheese isn’t marbled. That’s fine with me, however, because I don’t really like marbled/moldy cheese. The Yogi’s version is called a Yucatan Salad. Basically, it’s a romaine based salad with black beans, corn, avocado, salsa, and cheese. Delicious.
So, knowing that Stacie and I spent a small fortune on food last month, tonight I decided to recreate this favorite from these two restaurants. But, not before I watched this:
Yes, that’s exactly right 
This “salad” is probably a loose interpretation of the word, but it was still pretty tasty. And, it’s definitely better than a taco salad. So, I’m okay with it. Again, this is probably an occasional treat (unless you leave out some of the bad stuff), but just as tasty and definitely cheaper than the restaurant version.
Ingredients
- 1 head of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
- 1/2 cup of tomato salsa, pico de gallo, or 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 8 slices of bacon, crisped and crumbed
- 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar, or blended, cheese
- 1/2 cup of thawed, frozen corn kernels
- 1/2 cup of drained and rinsed black beans
- 1/2 cup of rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 1 avocado, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 3 medium eggs, hard-boiled
Procedure
Layer half the lettuce on a dinner plate. Then, in rows, layer half of the remaining ingredients. Repeat for the second serving. Toss and serve with your favorite dressing.
It won’t get me a mention in a Bud Light commercial, but darn it, it was a valiant try!
