This post is the very thing I never do. Well, it’s two things I never do, but let’s start with the first one: enter a contest. The truth is, except for a poetry competition I won in junior high (for which I still have my little medal tucked away somewhere in its plastic box thankyouverymuch), I’m pretty sure I have never won a contest, at least not one based on merit, ever.

And since I don’t really enjoy losing—I mean, I get losing, I do losing, I know it well, but enjoy it?—I’ve learned to steer clear of races or raffles or anything, you know, where there are winners and losers. It’s just better that way.

But, see, back in June, Kelly of Barhyte Specialty Foods sent me the nicest e-mail, saying they were having a contest and would I like to enter? There’d be 25 bloggers competing, all creating recipes from the Saucy Mama’s line, and the winners had a chance at an Amazon kindle, $150 in Amazon products, TV/DVD players and their recipe printed on bottles nationwide.

That all sounded fine, but seeing as I wouldn’t win any of it, it was when she mentioned the box full of free sauces, along with FOUR LIME CHIPOTLE BOTTLES TO GIVE AWAY that each contestant would get, that my ears perked up. (Free stuff for me! Free stuff for you! I can lose but we all win!)

So I told her I was in. Then the sauces came.

Even though garlic and Parmesan are the flavors I lean towards most (and they were five-stars in a recent tomato dish that you are going to love, just wait), I wanted to give you a recipe for the lime chipotle sauce most, since that was the sauce I can give away to four of you. Thing is, chipotle isn’t exactly a flavor I cook with often.

So here’s the second thing I never do that I’m doing here: make something spicy.

It’s not that I don’t like spicy foods—I do!—but they make me nervous, and not just because touching the inside of a jalapeno will cost three or so hours of your fingers dipped in cold milk, but because I am one of those timid types who buys mild salsa and barely dips her chips in most of it. I figured, though, as long as I was breaking one cardinal rule, I might as well break another. Right?

I guess I’m glad I did, not just because I liked this salad or because it used up my corn and tomatoes, but because it was different and interesting and a way to showcase this marinade, which would also be great for meat cooked on the grill or marinated overnight and then baked in the oven.

For this salad, I also roasted my own chicken, but before you go all look-at-her-pretending-she-doesn’t-want-to-win-but-roasting-a-whole-crazy-chicken on me, hear when I say it was a little three-pound thing on sale at the store and the last one left, and it took a whopping one hour and loads of butter and extra Saucy Mama’s Lime Chipotle Marinade to make. You could, by all means, grab a rotisserie chicken at the store for the same effect.

The salad itself is so easy. Honestly. Just the way salads should be—throw all these things in a bowl, mix it together and eat. The only thing that takes time is assembling the parts (making the dressing, for example, which is a blend of the Lime Chipotle marinade and olive oil and spices; or broiling the corn, just until it’s slightly browned), but after that, you toss, pour and mix.

And what I learned from this experience, beyond that, go figure, lime and chipotle make a great blend, is that salads do not have to be bland or boring or something you suffer through before the main meal. Every bite of this one was flavorful, from the chewy bits of corn to the cold kick of the tomatoes and peppers to the homemade dressing that covers the whole thing round. I guess some exceptions are good things, indeed.

Oh, and PS – that giveaway? It ends tomorrow at noon CST, and you can still enter.

Southwest Salad
I’ve named this Southwest Salad because of its corn and jalapeno and KICK of flavor after you bite it, but you could also call it Lime Chipotle Chicken Salad or Lime Chipotle Salad with Chicken with a Southwest Flair or, honestly, That Green Stuff That Tastes Good. I’ll leave it up to you.

Ingredients:
4 to 6 small tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 small jalapeno, diced (use gloves, please!)
juice from 1 lime
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 bunch fresh spinach, chopped
1 carrot, shaved or sliced into matchsticks
1 cob of corn (or around 2 cups frozen), broiled in the oven for around 10 minutes
1 cup fresh, roasted chicken, shredded or chopped

for the dressing:
1/2 cup Saucy Mama’s Lime-Chipotle Sauce
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt, pepper, to taste

Directions:
Start by combining tomato through cilantro ingredients in small bowl, adjusting seasonings to taste. Stick in the fridge while you assemble the rest of the salad. In a medium bowl, make the dressing: mix Saucy Mama’s Lime Chipotle Sauce with cilantro, olive oil, cumin, sugar and seasonings, whisking well.

Separately, wash and toss spinach with shaved carrots, and put it in a large bowl. Top with dressing, then add corn, chilled tomato mixture and roasted chicken.