Repeats with a Twist - McAlister's Deli

Wow, I've really neglected this food blog the last 6 weeks!  Between football season and life, it  got away from me.  I've made some great recipes and found some awesome new restaurant dishes, so I definitely need to get my act together and get caught back up.

McAlister's Deli is one of the first restaurants I went to when I moved to Stillwater.  It's a favorite lunch spot for many local residents, and the menu includes all kinds of sandwiches, huge stuffed baked potatoes, soups, and sweet tea.  My first couple years in Stillwater we went to McAlister's for lunch almost weekly, but after a while I kind of got tired of it.  Probably because I was rotating between 2 or 3 different items and never branched out.  I really liked the soup, but over time it became too salty and wasn't as hot as I would have liked it to be. 

About a month ago I decided to give McAlister's another shot, and was very pleasantly surprised that they now offer entree salads.  I decided to try the Southwest Cobb salad
Grilled chicken breast, fire-roasted corn & poblano pepper relish, guacamole, cheddar-jack cheese, tomatoes and tortilla chips. Chef’s dressing selection: Chipotle Ranch
I was really surprised how big the salad is.  Of course, there's a good amount of lettuce, but they definitely don't skimp on any of the other toppings. 

The corn and poblano pepper relish adds a little kick that I wasn't expecting, but it was delicious.  I always ask for dressing on the side when I get a salad and they gave me 2 containers.  If they normally put all that onto the salad it's way too much.  The dressing is really good but I'm pretty sure it's not healthy so I only use half of one container and that's plenty.  It also comes with a small side of guacamole, so I add that to the salad and it helps to dress the dish.  It also comes with tortilla chips.  I tried a couple bites without the chips and then crushed up a couple and tried it with them...honestly, they can just save the chips.  To me they don't add anything to the dish. 

McAlister's is officially back onto my lunch rotation.  I figure if I go about once a month it will take me a lot longer to get tired of it, especially knowing I can always go to a great salad as an option.