Southwestern Black Bean Salad

Southwestern Black Bean Salad (originally found here)

• 1 15.5 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 9 oz frozen (or canned) corn, thawed
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1/4 cup red or white onion, diced
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 1 lime, juice of
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
• salt and fresh ground pepper
• Mexican chili powder, a few pinches

Combine beans, corn, tomato, onion, scallion, cilantro, chili powder, salt and pepper. Mix with lime juice and olive oil. Marinate in the refrigerator 30 minutes. Add avocado before serving.

Caprese Salad

original recipe from the blog Feeding my Boyfriend

Caprese Salad (serves 4)

·         2 ripe vine tomatoes, sliced

·         A small bunch of fresh basil leaves

·         ½ pound of fresh mozzarella, sliced

·         Olive oil, for drizzling

·         Course sea salt, to taste

·         Reduced balsamic vinegar (optional) *

1.       Arrange the tomatoes, mozzarella and basil on the plate. Alternating the layers.

2.       Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt to taste (and pepper if you feel so inclined!).

BBQ Chicken Salad with Creamy BBQ Cilantro Lime Dressing

BBQ Chicken Salad

BBQ Chicken Salad

from melskitchencafe.com

*Note: this recipe calls for already cooked chicken so plan ahead! I like to cook my chicken in the crockpot, using frozen chicken breasts and about 1 cup of chicken broth for every 2 chicken breasts. I cook on low for about 4-5 hours and then shred and refrigerate (or freeze) for later.

*Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken and Salad:

3 cups cooked, shredded chicken

2 cups BBQ sauce, storebought or homemade

½ head iceberg lettuce, cored and chopped

2 romaine hearts, chopped

1/2 red onion diced

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed

1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained

4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cubed small or shredded

4 ounces Monterey jack cheese, cubed small or shredded

Creamy BBQ Cilantro Lime Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise, light or regular

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 garlic clove, finely minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 to 1/2 cup BBQ sauce

DIRECTIONS:

For the salad, combine the cooked chicken and BBQ sauce in a medium bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a large bowl, toss together the iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, red onion, cilantro, corn, black beans and cheese. Toss the mixed salad with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the dressing, if desired. Otherwise, you can serve the dressing on the side. Place salad on plates and top with the prepared BBQ chicken and additional dressing.

For the dressing, combine all the ingredients together and whisk (or shake, if using a jar) vigorously to combine. You could also run this through a blender to make it even more smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Make Ahead Instructions: All the components of this salad can be prepared up to a day in advance (the dressing can be made up to 3 days in advance). Store separately in the refrigerator and toss before serving.

Chinese Chicken Salad

Mike introduced this to me when we first got married.  I think it is a recipe his family made when he was growing up.  We really like it!

Chinese Chicken Salad

3 chicken breasts, cooked
fresh ginger root (to taste, chopped into tiny pieces--ginger root can be strong if not small pieces)
1 heat iceberg lettuce, torn or shredded
1 bunch green onions, chopped
slivered almonds
1/4 c. sesame seeds
Chinese noodles (uncooked)

Dressing:
4 Tbs sugar
4 tbs spice wine vinegar (any vinegar will work here but we usually use Apple Cider vinegar)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup oil (I always use the 1/2 cup and then always think it is too much when we eat it so you could probably put in less oil...try it and see what you like)

Shred cooked chicken.  Pour a mixture of soy sauce and sugar on chicken (Make mixture to personal taste).  Soak this mixture together while you add all other ingredients together.  Put chicken with soy and sugar mixture into lettuce mixture.  Either serve dressing as a side or toss salad with dressing just before serving.

Becky's Chicken Salad

Becky's Chicken Salad

I think I got this recipe from my sister Chelsey (don't know where she got it from...).  It's good.  We like to eat this on a roll as a sandwich.

2 1/2 c. cooked, diced chicken
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. sliced seedless grapes
1/2 c. sliced almonds
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp. salt
1 c. Mayo
3/4 c. heavy whipping cream

Grilled Chicken with Avocado, Tomato, and Corn Salsa

While on vacation, we ate a lot of good food and I didn't bother to watch what I was eating. Now that we are home, I decided it was time to get back to eating some healthy things. I found this recipe a few years ago and loved it. It came from a magazine, I don't even remember which one. It is fresh and delicious.

Grilled Chicken with Avocado, Tomato, and Corn Salsa

Salsa:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 ripe avocado, peeled, seeded and diced
1 large ripe tomato, diced
1 cup thawed frozen or canned corn kernels
1/4 cup each chopped red onion and cilantro

4 skinless, boneless chicken-breast halves (about 5 oz. each) * I only used two chicken breasts and split one with Mike and the other between the three boys.
1 tsp dried oregano
4 cups shredded lettuce (I didn't use this much)

1. Salsa: Mix lime juice, oil, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients; toss gently to mix and coat. (I actually only mix half of this with the salsa and then saved the rest of the lime juice mixture to pour over the lettuce. Next time I will probably just follow the recipe.)
2. Heat outdoor grill, ridged grill pan or broiler.
3. Season chicken with oregano, salt and pepper. Grill 3 to 4 minutes per side until cooked through.
4. Divide lettuce among 4 plates; top each with chicken, then salsa.

Peppery Bean Salad

In our attempt to be healthier, we are looking for good and healthy recipes. We were introduced to this Weight Watchers recipe by our friends. I am not a fan of chickpeas but they are really good in this recipe.

Peppery Bean Salad

1 c. canned red kidney beans, drained and rinsed.
1 c. canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 c. canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1 celery stalk, sliced diagonally (I just chopped them)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/4 c. ranch dressing (the recipe calls for peppercorn ranch but we couldn't find it)
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Refrigerate, covered, about one hour.

Greek Salad

You all know that Mike is into cheese....He loves to go to Sam's and pick out different cheeses. He took the boys with him this week and let them each pick a cheese. Will chose Feta (he is super picky and didn't know what it tasted like or he wouldn't have chose it). So, now we have a huge block of Feta. I decided to make a yummy salad.

Greek Salad

1 iceberg lettuce

6 tomatoes

1 medium cucumber

1 cup feta cheese

16 black olives, pitted and halved

For the dressing:

3 tbs. olive oil

1 tbs. lemon juice

1 tsp. Dijon-style mustard

1 tsp. oregano

A dash of black pepper

Shred the lettuce, then chop the tomatoes, cucumber, and feta into big chunks and put them all in a large bowl with the olives. To make the dressing, put the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, oregano, and a dash of pepper in the jelly glass, and screw on the lid tightly. When you're ready to serve the salad, shake the dressing in the jar until it's all mixed up, then pour it over the salad and toss everything lightly so the salad is coated with the dressing.

I made a few changes. We needed protein so I added some chicken strips I seasoned with Creole seasoning. I used a sprig mix of greens instead of iceberg lettuce, and I only used about three Roma tomatoes and that was plenty. We loved this salad. I'm already excited to try it again.

I got this recipe from Kid's Cookbook

Chicken Enchiladas and Berry Yumminess

Enchiladas

Tortillas
Two small cans of green enchilada sauce
Two chicken breasts
1 small can of green chilies
2 Tbs. sour cream
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1/4 a can of nacho sauce (more or less depending on your tastes)
Mozzarella cheese

Cook chicken. Shred. Add everything together except the enchilada sauce, tortillas, and mozzarella cheese. Fill the tortillas, roll. Put a little enchilada sauce on bottom of 9 x 13 inch pan. Place filled tortillas in pan and pour remaining sauce on top. Sprinkle with cheese. Cook on 350 degrees until bubbling.

Berry Yumminess

Two cups frozen mixed berries
One four once container of Fiber One Strawberry yogurt
Two spoon fulls of Cool Whip

Slightly thaw berries and mix everything together. As with most of my recipes you can add more or less of anything.

12 Layer Jello Rainbow Salad

You may have all had this before, but I had to post because it is such a fun and pretty food to eat. The kids loved it, and so did Mike and I.

1 (30z) pkg. lime jello 1 pkg. raspberry jello
1 pkg lemon jello 1 pkg. blackberry jello
1 pkg. orange jello 8 to 16 oz plain yogurt
1 pkg. strawberry jello Cool Whip

Do in order given. Dissolve each jello in 1 cup boiling water. Divide in half.
Add 3 tbsp. cold water to one half and 3 tbsp yogurt to the other half. Pour the yourt mixture first into a 9 X 13 glass pan. Chill 1/2 hour, then pour other mixture on top of first. Chill 1/2 hour. Repeat steps with each pkg of jello. Garnish with coll whip when all layers are set.

I can't believe it but my beautiful picture of jello did not work. So sad!! You all would have loved it. I guess you'll have to go make it yourself to see it.

Won Ton Chicken Salad

This is a great meal that is not too labor intensive and very good. It is also very easy to scale up or down for your family. I am going to write it up as I made it the other day for our family.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 package of Won Tons
1 bag of salad mix (a head of lettuce is fine also)
1/2 cup Japanese rice vinegar
1/2 cup oil (olive, vegetable, whatever)
1/2 cup sugar

Marinate the chicken breasts in teriaki sauce for a couple of hours then grill. I find that you will get more of a teriaki taste if you grill them in a grilling pan and then right before they are done, add fresh teriaki sauce onto the chicken. The hot pan will form a glaze on the chicken. Once the chicken is done, cube the breasts into fairly small pieces.

While the chicken is cooking, fry the won tons, turning once. I use a frying pan with about 1/2 of oil in the bottom. When the oil gets hot, add the won tons. Keep an eye on them since they cook very quickly and will burn. Drain them well to get rid of any excess oil.

Add the sugar, rice vinegar, and oil into a small container and mix well.

Finally, break the won tons into bite size pieces in a bowl, add some salad, some cubed chicken, and drizzle the dressing over the top. My mouth is watering in anticipation. Enjoy.