BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad

This is one of the most delicious meals I've made in the past couple of months. Even Corey (who doesn't normally think that a salad constitutes a meal and isn't quite on-board with quinoa yet) thought that it was delicious and said he was excited to eat it again--soon. This meal is also super healthy and quick to throw together if you use leftover quinoa and chicken. If you've never made quinoa before, here is a good tutorial on how to cook it. If you're looking for another way to enjoy it--try serving it with this Honey-Balsamic Glazed Salmon. Enjoy!

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad
adapted from What's Gaby Cooking 

serves 2

1 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup corn (fresh or frozen, thawed)
1 cup shredded, cooked BBQ chicken
1 1/2 - 2 cups baby spinach
1 avocado, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 green onions (white and green parts), thinly sliced
2-3 Tb. BBQ sauce
2-3 Tb. ranch dressing
juice of 1/2 lime
1/8 tsp. each cumin and chipotle chili powder
fresh chopped cilantro and lime wedges for serving

1. Combine  BBQ sauce, ranch dressing, lime juice, cumin and chili powder in small bowl. Stir until completely combined.
2. Toss all remaining ingredients in large bowl. Drizzle with dressing. Divide evenly onto serving plates and serve with chopped cilantro and lime wedges.

Pear Walnut Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

If you have some leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving, this is a great (and healthy, which we all know we're needing after the overindulgence of Thanksgiving) recipe to use some of it up. It is light, refreshing, and delicious, and is a wonderful combination of textures and flavors that somehow manage to meld together perfectly. It can be a main course a side or a starter for your next holiday meal. I happened to have some mushrooms in the fridge, so I sliced them up and added them to my salad. Feel free to add them in you like, or leave them out if you would rather. It is sure to be great either way. Enjoy!

Pear Walnut Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette
adapted from Cooking Light

Salad:
8 cups romaine lettuce, baby spinach, or mixed greens
2 pears, thinly sliced
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/3 cup blue cheese crumbles
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup dried cherries or cranberries

Dressing:
1/2 cup cranberry sauce
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (about 1 orange)
2 Tb. olive oil
2 Tb. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground ginger

1. Make vinaigrette by combining all dressing ingredients in a blender until completely combined. Set aside.
2. Layer lettuce, pears, onion, blue cheese, and walnuts on plates. Drizzle with dressing. Serve immediately. Makes 8 servings. 

Pickled Cucumber Salad

I love this salad: let me just get that out in the open right now. This is a salad that my sister Mica has made for several family get-togethers. Every time she makes it, I savor it and love every bite, then beg for the recipe...and then she promptly forgets to give it to me. I was finally able to get the recipe from her (because I needed to bring this to her birthday dinner!) and I am thrilled to be able to make it any time I want to now.

It's super simple (only 5 ingredients) and even quicker if you use a food processor to slice the cucumbers. This is a great way to use up extra cucumbers from your garden (and shallots and jalapenos if you grow those too--our jalapenos died but our shallots did great!). It tastes fresh and delicious, just perfect for enjoying during these last weeks of summer (can you tell I'm going through summer-is-ending denial? I keep posting all sorts of summery recipes because I want to hang on to summer just as long as I can). We served this with Thai chicken, rice, and Matt's Thai Chicken soup (how do we not have a picture of that? It is amazing)! I had the leftovers the next day with a BLT. Pretty much, it's good with just about anything, and makes for a very refreshing side dish!

Pickled Cucumber Salad

2 English (hot house) cucumbers, thinly sliced
2 Tb. salt
4 medium shallots, thinly sliced
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup + 2 Tb. granulated sugar

1. Toss sliced cucumber with salt (the salt draws the excess liquid out of the cucumber, this is important so that the salad is not waterery). Let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature, discard liquid, and pat cucumber dry with paper towels.
2. Toss together cucumbers, shallots, and jalapenos. Combine vinegar and sugar in small bowl and mix well. Pour over cucumber mixture and stir to combine. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 24 hours. (I think this is best about 2 hours after it is made, that way the cucumber has time to soak up the vinegar but it doesn't get mushy).

Italian Pasta Salad

If you are like me, during the summer you have approximately 593,000 barbecues and potlucks to attend. I'm always trying to think of salads, side dishes, and treats to bring along with me. This is one of my favorites to make--it is quick, delicious, cheap, and it's always a hit. One of the great things about this salad is that it's very versatile. Swap out the olives for cucumbers. Omit the pepperoni. Change the cheddar for mozzarella. Use balsamic vinaigrette instead of Italian dressing. Leave out the crushed red pepper if you don't want it spicy. My favorite dressing to use on this salad is Kraft Roasted Red Pepper or Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette. The possibilities are endless!

Italian Pasta Salad

1 lb. tri-color rotini, cooked and cooled
8 oz. cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes (1/4 - 1/2 inch)
1 can (6 oz.) black olives, drained and sliced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
2 oz. pepperoni, sliced or cubed
1/2 bottle Italian salad dressing, or to taste
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)

Combined all ingredients and toss. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 8 hours. Enjoy!

Citrus Salad Toss

This is a great summer salad with lots of fresh fruit and veggies. My husband hates fruit in a salad, so he calls this "chick food." I have to agree, it is perfect for a baby shower, bridal shower, or girls night. You can easily make this a main dish salad by adding sliced, grilled chicken. Yum!

Citrus Salad Toss

Salad:
8 cups baby spinach
8 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 large orange, sliced or 1 can (11 oz) mandarin oranges
1 pint strawberries, sliced
2 avocados, thinly sliced or diced
2/3 cup toasted or candied almonds or pecans (optional)

Dressing:
Juice of 1/2 orange
Juice of 1 lime
zest of 1 orange
zest of 1 lime
1 Tb. sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil

1. Combine all salad ingredients except avocado and nuts. Toss gently.
2. In small bowl whisk together all dressing ingredients except oil. Slowly add oil while continually whisking to form an emulsion.
3. Add avocado to dressing and toss lightly (the citrus in the dressing will help prevent the avocado from browning). Add dressing and avocado to salad and toss gently. Sprinkle with nuts if desired.

Tip: if your red onion is strong or you just want a milder flavor, cover the thinly sliced onion with cold water for 30 minutes, then drain well. This takes some of the bite out of the onion for a milder taste.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

This is a great salad for warm summer days. It is light, refreshing, healthy and quick. As a bonus, it uses up veggies that you probably have growing in your garden. Today it snowed (seriously) in Utah, and in rebellion I thought I would whip this up and pretend it was summer. Although I didn't enjoy the snow, I thought the salad was amazing and I'm contemplating having it for dinner too...

Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Adapted from Rachael Ray

3/4 cup cucumber, halved lengthwise and sliced
3/4 cup cherry, pear, or grape tomatoes, halved
3 - 4 Tb. finely chopped sweet red or yellow onion (such as Vidalia)
1 Tb. olive oil
1 Tb. red wine vinegar
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Toss all ingredients together and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Feel free to adjust the amounts of the ingredients to your liking. You can also add fresh basil, parsley, green onion, chives, garlic, etc. if desired.

Lemon Fruit Salad

Let's just say this. This is my very favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. I love it. Can't get enough of it. And look forward to it all year long. It's a classic from my Aunt Mary. Make it. Enjoy it. Love it. Come back for more. Sorry about the horrible pictures...just know it's amazing.

Lemon Fruit Salad

1 can lemon pie filling
1 8 oz. package cool whip
1 lb. strawberries, sliced
3 bananas, sliced
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1 1/2 cups pineapple chunks
2 cups miniature marshmallows

Combine all ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve, not more than 12 hours. Enjoy!

Southwestern Cobb Salad

This was a nice, light summery meal that was both healthy and delicious. Enjoy!

Southwestern Cobb Salad

4 cups lettuce, chopped
1 cup shredded cheese, such as pepper jack or colby jack
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can sweet baby corn, rinsed and drained; or 2 cobs fresh corn, removed from cob
1 avocado, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced; or 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 small can sliced olives
1 - 1 1/2 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
1/2 cup chopped red or green pepper (optional)
1/2 cup chopped red or green onion (optional)
1 handful fresh cilantro
1/4 cup salsa verde
1/2 cup ranch dressing
Tortilla chips or fresh cooked tortillas

1. Arrange lettuce along the bottom of 4 plates or bowls. Arrange cheese, black beans, corn, avocado, tomatoes, olives, chicken (and peppers and onions if desired) along the top of the lettuce.
2. Combine cilantro, salsa verde, and ranch dressing in a food processor or blender until well combined. Drizzle over top of salads. Top with additional cilantro, if desired. Serve with tortilla chips or freshly cooked tortillas.

Southwestern Pasta Salad

This week we had a potluck at work and the night before I was trying to figure out something to take that didn't involve me running to the store and wasn't too labor intensive. The guidelines for the potluck were pretty specific, too, so I was stumped. It had to be healthy, green, and tasty. I figured everyone would be bringing green salads, since that would be an easy thing, so I was trying to think of something else. I ended up throwing this together and it was a hit, everyone loved it! This is a great side dish or main dish. If you want to jazz it up just a little more for a main dish, go ahead and throw in some diced cooked chicken and corn.


Southwestern Pasta Salad

1 pkg. (12 - 16 oz) whole grain rotini, cooked and cooled
1 can (15 oz) low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (color of your choice, I used orange)
1 can olives, sliced (use a small can or a large can, depending on how much you like olives)
5-6 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
8 oz pepper jack cheese, diced
2 avocados, diced
handful chopped cilantro
1 lime, juiced
1 cup ranch dressing
2 Tb. taco seasoning mix

1. In small bowl, combine ranch dressing, taco seasoning, cilantro, and lime juice. Mix well.
2. In large bowl, combine all other ingredients. Pour dressing over pasta mixture and mix until everything is evenly coated. Serve immediately.

*If you are not going to be serving right away (I made mine the night before to take to work) you can still mix everything together except the avocado. Refrigerate up to 24 hours and add the avocado right before serving. It's just as delicious as it is when you first make it!

Raspberry Spinach Salad

This was an experimental salad that turned out fantastic. It's one of those meals where you can mix and match ingredients depending on what you have. Here is the basic recipe:

4 cups fresh spinach, washed and dried

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

3 scallions (green onions), thinly sliced

1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced

1 cup fresh raspberries, sliced

1/2 cup sugar snap peas, sliced in half diagonally

1-2 cups grilled chicken breast, sliced or cubed (optional)

dressing of your choice to taste (raspberry vinagerette, poppy seed, or citrus vinagerettes are good)

Toss all ingredients together and serve. You can also substitute fresh oranges for the mandarin oranges, thinly sliced red onions (soaked in cold water to lessen the strong taste) for the scallions, add a handful of toasted nuts (walnuts, pecans, or almonds are good), or omit the peas if desired. It makes a great main dish or omit the chicken for a side dish. Enjoy!

Broccoli Macaroni Salad

I had this salad at my 5 year high school reunion. I have to say, it was the best part of the whole event! It's good because it's a great combintation of crunchy and soft, salty and sweet. Enjoy!

Macaroni Salad

Ingredients
Salad: mix the following in a big bowl
Small macaroni salad pasta (8 - 10 ounces), cooked and drained
About 2 cups broccoli
4 green onions, chopped
8 strips bacon, cooked and diced
1 cup shredded swiss or mozzarella cheese
1 - 2 cups red grapes, sliced in half

Dressing: mix the following items well
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tb. red wine vinegar

Cook macaroni and bacon (let cool) and then combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Top with dressing and stir well. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving to let the flavors combine.
If you use a large package of macaroni, double the dressing. If the dressing goes sugary, it’s okay. It will dissolve in the salad.

Chicken Green Chile Salad

I love Bajio. There is one only two minutes from our house. It is a dangerous, dangerous thing for it to be so close to our house, because it means that we go there altogether too often. I always used to get the Chicken Green Chile Stuffed Quesadilla. I pretty much figured that nothing could be better than that. Sweet and spicy green chiles and savory chicken stuffed inside a fresh cooked flour tortilla with a side of mexican rice and smoky refried beans? Talk about tasty. Then my mom introduced me to the Chicken Green Chile Salad and I've never gone back. It's light enough that it doesn't make you sick after you eat it, and you can eat the whole thing without really feeling bad about it. It's pretty much the perfect combination of flavors and is even a well balanced meal! It's got veggies, fruit, meat, grain, and dairy. In the past year I've probably spent at least $200 at Bajio, so I figured I better figure out how to make my own version of it to save a little money. That being said, here is my answer to Bajio's Chicken Green Chile Salad. Enjoy!

Chicken Green Chile Salad (serves 4)

-------Green Chile Chutney--------
3 large annaheim or poblano peppers (or a combination of the two), halved, seeds removed
1 - 2 jalapeno peppers, halved, seeds removed
4 oz. can diced green chiles
5-7 tomatillos, husks removed
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
scant 1 cup sugar
dash each of chili powder (I like chipotle chili powder), cumin, salt
1 large sweet onion, halved

Place peppers, tomatillos, and onion on baking sheet/rack. Roast in 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes, or until nicely browned. Place tomatillos and about 1/4 cup onion in blender and process until mostly smooth. Dice peppers. Add all ingredients except the remaining onion into a large pot. Cook over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes or until thickened and reduced. Add more sugar/peppers to adjust the spiciness/sweetness to taste. Slice the remaining onion and saute with a little bit of the green chile sauce over medium-low heat until carmelized.

------Chicken---------------------
1 1/2 - 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
freshly ground salt and pepper

Cook chicken on grill set at medium-high heat. Brush both sides occasionally with a mixture of the lime juice, oil, salt, and pepper. Grill for about 7 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Cool for about 5 minutes, then shred or dice into bite size pieces.

--------Dressing------------------
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup millk
1/2 cup salsa verde (or more to taste)
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 clove garlic
1 lime, juiced

Combine all ingredients in blender until well blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.

--------Salad/Toppings-----------
8 c shredded romaine or green leaf lettuce
1/2 cup pico de gallo and/or 1/2 cup mango salsa (I recommend the mango salsa, it's delightful!)
1/2 cup shredded colby jack cheese
1/2 cup fresh guacamole (optional)
4 uncooked flour tortillas (you can buy these at Costco, Macey's or Bajio)
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
1/4 cup cilantro
Fried tortilla strips (Cut 4 small corn tortillas into thin strips with a pizza cutter. Fry in oil for 3-4 minutes or until crispy. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with a little bit of salt.)

------------------------------------
To arrange the salad, add chicken, green chile chutney, and onions together in a pan and heat through. Layer 2 cups lettuce, 1/4 of the chicken mixture, 2 Tb. cheese, and 1/4 of the tortilla strips on each of 4 plates. On the side of each salad put 2 Tb. pico de gallo and/or mango salsa, 2 Tb. guacamole, 2 lime slices, 1 Tb. fresh cilantro, and 2 - 4 Tb. dressing. Serve each salad with a freshly cooked tortilla.

I know that this recipe looks a little daunting, but it actually went pretty quick yesterday. I made the entire thing in about an hour, and Corey and I both loved it. I even had a leftover salad today and tomorrow we'll be having quesadillas with the leftover chicken green chile mixture! I'm excited--and think of all the money I'm saving!