Grilled Chili Lime Chicken Fajita Salad

Halloween night. Marco was a T-Rex. Elena was a green triceratops, because Lisa found green fabric and a hot glue gun and performed a miracle of costume engineering at eleven PM the night before, which is the kind of thing she does — solves the unsolvable while the rest of us sleep. Diego went as a football player, which required no costume because he was already wearing his jersey from Friday's game and refused to take it off. Sofia went as a librarian. She carried a real book. She shushed people. She was the most terrifying thing on the block.

I took the four of them trick-or-treating through the neighborhood while Lisa handed out candy at the door. Denver does Halloween right — every porch lit up, every yard decorated, the kind of suburban commitment to a holiday that you don't see in Las Cruces, where the decorations are a single jack-o-lantern and maybe a plastic skeleton if someone's feeling ambitious. Marco roared at every house. Elena corrected people who called her a "purple dinosaur" — "I'm GREEN" — and I carried a flashlight and a bag of backup candy and felt, for two hours, like the luckiest man alive. Four kids in costumes, sugar-high and laughing, on a street lined with cottonwoods dropping gold leaves under the streetlights. You don't get these nights back. I know that now more than I knew it then, but I knew it a little, and that's enough.

We had a bye this week, so no Friday game. 7-0 heading into November and the stretch run. I spent the week installing new wrinkles in the playbook and watching film of our next three opponents, which is how coaches say "I sat in a dark room staring at a screen for forty hours." Lisa says I need a hobby. Coaching is my hobby. It's also my job. This is either efficient or unhealthy. Possibly both.

I made green chile chicken soup on Thursday — a simple one, because bye weeks are for recovery, for the team and for the cook. Shredded chicken, onion, garlic, chicken broth, white beans, and a full cup of chopped roasted Hatch green chile. Cumin, a squeeze of lime at the end. Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. The kind of soup that takes thirty minutes and tastes like someone cared. Diego had two bowls, then went to the backyard to run routes in the dark, which I pretended not to see through the kitchen window and which made my heart do something I don't have a word for.

Feed your people. The game is won at the table.

That lime squeeze at the end of Thursday’s soup — the one that woke the whole bowl up — got me thinking about all the places lime belongs. This Grilled Chili Lime Chicken Fajita Salad has the same spirit: simple spices, bright acidity, chicken that pulls your attention the way a good play call does. Bye week or not, you still have to feed the people at your table, and this one does the job fast and without any fuss.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 2 limes), plus wedges for serving
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 medium red onion, sliced into half-rings
6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large avocado, sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Marinate the chicken. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon olive oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Add chicken breasts and turn to coat. Let marinate at room temperature for at least 10 minutes while you prep the vegetables.
Grill the chicken. Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill over medium-high heat. Cook chicken 6—7 minutes per side, until cooked through and internal temperature reaches 165°F. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes, then slice or shred.
Cook the peppers and onion. In the same pan, add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add bell peppers and onion and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 5—6 minutes until softened and lightly charred at the edges. Season lightly with salt.
Assemble the salad. Divide romaine among four bowls or plates. Top with the warm pepper and onion mixture, sliced chicken, cherry tomatoes, and avocado.
Finish and serve. Scatter fresh cilantro over each bowl. Squeeze a lime wedge over the top. Add a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt if desired. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Grilled Chili Lime Chicken Fajita Salad — The Lime Squeeze That Makes It Right