Chipotle salads: The secret is in the sauce

Bow down to me. I'm a beacon of healthfulness. That's because now when I go to Chipotle (which is often), I tell them to hold that fatty tortilla and that starchy white rice, too. Instead I go for their salad option, in which the meat, beans, salsa and other goodies...

By Joel Warner

January 13, 2009

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Bow down to me. I'm a beacon of healthfulness. That's because now when I go to Chipotle (which is often), I tell them to hold that fatty tortilla and that starchy white rice, too. Instead I go for their salad option, in which the meat, beans, salsa and other goodies are layered on top of a wholesome bed of romaine.

I could tell you I do this because I have the willpower of a Zen master, but I'd be lying. After all, if the salads didn't taste good, I'd go back to those tortilla-wrapped calorie bombs in a second. But the fact is, the salads taste very good - great, even. The secret, I've decided, lies in the salad dressing that the restaurant calls Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette.

This stuff's amazing - so good I fantasize about finding it bottled up and sold in the supermarket next to the Ken's Steak House offerings. So far that hasn't happened, so instead I settle for mooching a free container or two from the Chipotle staff whenever I order a salad (the friendly folks are always happy to indulge my eccentricities). Then, with my extra dressing, I just go nuts, dousing salad after homemade salad with special sauce. Hell, when I do fall off the wagon and order a burrito, I ask for some of the dressing on the side, so I can dribble the liquid goodness straight into the burrito. Ecstasy ensues.

I might even try making the dressing myself; I just came across a recipe online that's apparently a dead ringer for the stuff. I'll try it out and let you know if it's worthy. - Joel Warner

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Joel Warner is a former staff writer for Westword and International Business Times. He's also written for WIRED, Men's Journal, Men's Health, Bloomberg Businessweek, Popular Science, Slate, Grantland and many other publications. He's co-author of the 2014 book The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny, published by Simon & Schuster.

Contact: Joel Warner