Southwester Chicken Salad with 2 dressings

Southwestern Chicken Salad

For the chicken:

2 medium chicken breasts ( I used a pack of chicken tenders)

1 T Taco Seasoning

½ t cumin

¼ t salt

Juice of ½ lime

1 T of olive oil

For the Salad

Romaine

Avocado

Diced tomato

Black beans

Garbonzo beans

Corn

cilantro

Marinate chicken in zip lock bag for at least 30 minutes to overnight.  Cook chicken in skillet.  

Top with Cilantro lime vinaigrette or Creamy tomatillo or both.

Café Rio Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

2 tomatillos

½ bunch cilantro

2 cloves garlic

½ jalapeno, deseeded

Juice of 2 limes

1 Tablespoons sugar

1 C Balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing ( I used Newmans Own)

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend together, no need to chop.  Refridgerate for at least 2 hours before serving.  Overnight is best.

Café Rio Style Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing

2 Cups mayonnaise, not light

2 cups sour cream

½ bunch cilantro

2 Tomatillos

2 green onions, green parts only

1 clove garlic

1 jalapeno, deseeded

Juice of 2 limes

About 1 teaspoon salt…to taste

*Blend together and refrigerate

You GOAT, girl Green Bean Salad

Dressing:

1/3 c walnut oil

2 Tbsp rice wine vingar

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 Tbsp minced shallot

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Salad:

1 Tbsp plush 1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 lb young, tender green beans, trimmed

1/2 c chopped walnuts

2 tsp walnut oil

12 ripe black Mission figs, halved

3 ounces goat cheese

To make the dressing: In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the dressing ingredients. Shake well, making sure the sugar dissolves. Set aside.

Fill a large stockpot three-quarters full with water, cover, and bring to a boil. Have ready a large bowl of ice water. Add the 1 T salt to the boiling water, then the beans, and cook until bright green and crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Drain the beans and plunge into the ice water until cold, about 1 to 2 minutes. Drain, wrap in several layers of paper towels, and place in a plastic bag. Refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325 F. toss the walnuts with the remaining 1/4 tsp salt and the walnut oil. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside.

Walnut oil adds an unctuous, nutty-rich flavor to salads. Be sure to refrigerate after opening. Delicate Japanese rice wine vinegar balances this dish perfectly!

Place the beans and figs in a large bowl and toss with the dressing. Divide among individual salad plates. Garnish with the walnuts and crumble some goat cheese on top.

roasted butternut squash salad with apple cider vinaigrette

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette
by In Good Taste
Recipe Description
A hearty fall salad with roasted butternut squash, feta cheese, walnuts, dried cranberries and arugula.

Preparation Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Place the butternut squash on a sheet pan. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, maple syrup, one teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss (use your hands for best results). Roast the squash for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once, until tender.
While the squash is roasting, make the dressing: combine apple cider, vinegar, mustard, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Slowly pour in olive oil, whisking continuously as dressing thickens. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Place the arugula in a large salad bowl and add the roasted squash mixture, the walnuts, cranberries, and feta. Spoon just enough vinaigrette over the salad to moisten and toss well (if you like light dressing, you may have some left over). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Ingredients serves 4
FOR THE SALAD:
1-½ pound Butternut Squash, Peeled And Diced
1 Tablespoon High Quality Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon High-quality, Pure Maple Syrup
Kosher Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
4 ounces, weight Baby Arugula
½ cups Walnut Halves, Toasted
3 Tablespoons Dried Cranberries
¾ cups Crumbled Feta Cheese

FOR THE DRESSING:

¾ cups Apple Cider
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
¼ teaspoons Cinnamon
½ cups Olive Or Vegetable Oil
Salt And Pepper, to taste

***I made some alteration:

I added brown sugar to the walnuts and the squash....it tastes best if you just season it like you would candied squash. Also, my kids drank all my apple cider, so I used canned pear juice instead, this made it sweeter instead of so tangy.

Southwest Salad with Cilantro Honey Lime Dressing

(Recipe from the very talented Si Foster at www.abountifulkitchen.com)

I have made this salad twice in the last week with great reviews and plan to do it again next week for an entirely different audience! I did add shredded chicken to make it more of a meal and not just a salad.

Salad:
1 1/2 large heads Romaine lettuce, washed and spinned until very dry
1 can Mexican Corn, drained well
1 can black beans, washed and drained
2 avocados, chopped (not too soft) choose avocados that are fairly firm
1 bunch green onions, sliced
4-5 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cup Pepper Jack Cheese, grated
1 1/2 cups Colby cheese, grated

Dressing:
1 cup cilantro, rinsed, remove stems
1 cup mayonnaise
4-6 Tablespoons fresh lime
lime zest
2 tablespoons honey
sea salt
pepper
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne

For Salad:
Chop lettuce into bite size pieces. Place lettuce in large serving bowl.
If not using immediately, layer in the following order:
Lettuce
black beans
corn
peppers
green onion
avocado
tomatoes
grated cheeses

For Dressing:
Chop cilantro. Whisk together in bowl rest of ingredients, add fresh cilantro. Add more lime, honey or cayenne to taste.

Toss salad with dressing just before serving, or serve dressing on the side of salad. If serving on side, double dressing.

Tips:
-Use Romaine full heads, not Romaine hearts (Costco) You will be happier with the dark green color.
-Important to drain veggies well and spin salad til it's dry. If you take the time to do this, the salad will last for up to three days if not tossed with dressing.
-Layering in the order given will insure that the cheese won't get soggy, and the avocados will stay fresh(er) with the tomatoes layered on top. Romas, or grape tomatoes are best for this salad.
-I like the look when hand chopping part of the Cilantro for the salad. You can throw all of the ingredients into a blender or use an immersion blender to make the dressing, then chop a few tablespoons by hand to get the larger leaf look in the dressing.
-If you want more of a Taco-style salad, add some chopped chicken and chips.

Cafe Rio Salads II

Pork Barbaquoa

4-6 lb boneless pork roast
3 cups brown sugar
3 cups salsa
12 oz. Dr. Pepper (Cuz it comes straight from Heaven)
*Put all ingredients in crockpot and cook on high until meat falls apart. Remove meat from juice after about 4-5 hours into it, shred and return meat back into crock pot with juice. Cook for a couple more hours on low.

Chicken

6lb. chicken breast
1 T. cumin
1 T. chili powder
Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing (1 bottle)
3 cloves garlic minced

*Put all ingredients in crockpot, cook on high for 4 hours. Remove meat from juice, shred and return back to crockpot. Cook for 1 more hour.

Cilantro Rice

1 can green chiles
1/2 onion
1/2 bunch cilantro
4 cloves garlic
1 T. butter
4 cubes chicken bullion
6 cups water
3 cups rice 3/4 t. salt

*Blend cilantro, green chiles and onion together.
*Add all other ingredients with blended herbs into rice cooker. Cook until done.

Tomatillo Dressing

3 tomatillos - remove papery outside, wash and cut stem out.
1 pkg ranch buttermilk dressing
1/2 cup mayo
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. buttermilk ( milk works too if you don't have buttermilk)
1 c. fresh cilantro (stems and leaves)
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 t. cayenne
*Put all ingredients in blender and blend til smooth.

Other ingredients for salad

6 cans black beans heated
Romain Lettuce
Tortillas (I use uncooked tortillas from costco and cook with cheese on one side.)

Cafe rio

CILANTRO-LIME RICE

1 cup uncooked rice
1 tbsp oil
1 clove garlic minced..optional
1 fresh lime
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth or 3 cubes chicken bullion
2 cup water
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/4 of a bunch of cilantro




In a saucepan combine rice, oil, garlic, a little lime peel, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice.

BLACK BEANS
(although I just used plain old black beans from a can!!)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 cup tomato juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

Source: pinkdaisy
MSG URL: http://www.recipelink.com/msgid/1425613

TOMATILLO DRESSING

3 LG. Tomatillos
1 c buttermilk
1 c packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 c mayo
1/2 c sour cream
1 envelope buttermilk ranch dressing mix
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/8 of a serrano pepper...optional will make it hotter!

remove husks from tomatillos, wash , quarter and boil in water 7 min. until soft. Then combine everthing in a blender until smooth. Chill for a least one hour.

(copycat recipe's)
PORK

3-5 LB PORK LOIN
1 1/2 cans of coke classic not diet(or sprite)
1 c sugar
7 oz can plain adobo sauce
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cumin
1tsp minced garlic
1 minced onion

I added beef bullion cubes 2. Brown sugar and some salsa. Put all ingredients in a blender and pour over pork.

cook in crock pot overnight 7-10 hours . Shred and taste. You may have to add some salt and or more brown sugar.

Serve over costco's pre-made flour tortillas.
Add some pico de degallo, cilantro, sour cream, avocados, shredded cheese and a lime wedge.
Just heat them up and serve.

Spinach Salad

1 bunch fresh spinach
½ can honey roasted peanuts
1 ½ c. red seedless grapes, cut in half
1 c. shredded Swiss cheese

Dressing
½ c. canola oil 2 tbsp. poppy seeds
¼ c. sugar 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. dry mustard

Mix all dressing ingredients and toss with all salad ingredients.

Honey Lime Fruit Salad

*Note: This fruit salad is best served right away (or at least within an hour of making) because the strawberries tend to stain the light colored fruit. It doesn't affect the taste at all but is a slight bummer for presentation.
*Serves 4

1 (20 oz.) can pineapple chunks, drained well
1 can mandarin oranges, drained well
2-3 ripe kiwi, peeled and sliced into thick half moons
1 cup green grapes, halved
1 cup strawberries, quartered
Zest from one lime, about 1 tablespoon
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon poppy seeds (optional)

Combine the fruit in a medium-large serving bowl. Add the lime zest and poppy seeds, if using, and gently toss. Drizzle the honey over the fruit and again, gently mix until the fruit is evenly coated with the honey. Serve.
From www.melskitchencafe.com

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Spinach

Sliced Strawberries

Craisins

In saucepan combine 1 cup chopped almonds and 2/3 cup sugar. Heat and stir until almonds are covered with sugar and lightly toasted. (You can also just purchase these at the store and you can substitute almonds with walnuts).

Dressing:

1/2 cup oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup strawberry jam

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. Poppy Seed

Combine dressing in blender. Add poppy seeds after already blended, quick blend them in. Add to salad right before serving.

DJ's Sweet Lips Farewell No-Pasta Pasta Salad

DJ is 19 and I am 35 so it is chronologically impossible for me to have dated him 15 years ago during my dating years. But believe you me if I was a single 18 or 19 year old I would want to. And apparently there are several ladies who are 18 or 19 who share my same sentiment. Especially since the day before his mission farewell he was kissed by two different girls within 5 minutes and neither one of them were girls he was dating at the time. And, yes, you read right they kissed him, not the other way around. With no warning at all and without seeing the other one do it, two girls separately walked right up to him, planted a big one right on his sweet lips, said "See you tomorrow" and walked away. In my mind that story is epic and I didn't even see it. I only heard about it and besides this salad, it was the most talked about thing at his post farewell lunch which is where I took this salad. And since DJ's sweet lips will be having a 2 year hiatus you might as well put this salad to your sweet lips instead. It is a great, different salad you can take to gatherings such as these that will have all your guests talking about almost as much as ... well, you know!;) (Can you imagine how big that story is going to get in the MTC?)
DJ's Sweet Lips Farewell No-Pasta Pasta Salad
1 bag of Fritos Honey BBQ twisted chips
1 c. corn- in the summer I use two fresh corn kernels cut straight from the cob, but I'm sure you could use frozen. Just thaw-don't cook.
1 yellow, red or orange pepper- chopped. Just one-not all three!
1/2 red onion- chopped
2 medium tomatoes- diced
1 avocado- diced
small can of sliced olives- when I made this all I had was chopped olives and I just used 1/2 a can
Can of black beans, drained
8oz. bottle of Catalina or French dressing
Mix all above together. The chips will soften a little bit in the dressing so if you want them crunchy mix right before serving. What makes this salad so different and "buzz-worthy" is people dish it up thinking it is pasta salad but are pleasantly surprised when the "pasta" is actually crunchy... in a good way!

Summer Chicken Pasta Fruit Salad

I am sitting here, looking out the window, watching it snow sideways, WISHING IT WAS REALLY SPRING. To tempt Mother Nature to bring better weather, here is a yummy salad from a Stake Women's Conference a few years ago....

Summer Chicken Pasta Fruit Salad
(It makes a TON! I usually only do half the recipe)

12 oz. bow tie noodles
12 oz. spiral noodles
5 cooked chicken breasts cut into pieces (optional)
1 1/2 cup chopped celery
6 green onions chopped
1 bag Craisens
1 lrg can pineapple tidbits - drained
2 cans Mandarin oranges - drained
2 cups red grapes
12 -16 oz. Cashews broken

Dressing:

1 16 oz. bottle Kraft coleslaw dressing
1 cup mayonnaise

Instructions:

Cook pasta as directed, rinse in cold water.
Mix in all ingredients, add dressing and toss.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Craig's Ray of Sunshine Salad

So I take liberties with naming my recipes. This one again is not named after a boy I dated, but someone in my family not only dated him, but also married him as well. So it counts. And that "someone" who dated him was my mother-in-law. Yes, folks- Craig Ray is my father-in-law, but I don't think anyone every calls him Craig Ray except maybe his mother use to. But maybe I'll start that tradition. He seems like the type who would appreciate it. ;)

I recently took this salad to a family dinner and Craig Ray- see how it is catching on- proclaimed this salad "The Best Salad He Has Ever Tasted." So I guess it doesn't take much to win my affection because I immediately decided this salad was to be named after him. And his middle name of Ray just begged to be included. So basically the universe declared "The Best Salad Ever" as:

Craig's Ray of Sunshine Salad

Lettuce- whatever kind you like- I used a mix of red leaf and spinach.

1 pear, diced

1 apple, diced

1 avocado, diced

1 shallot, thinly sliced

Almonds slices- toasted. I bought some that were already toasted with a slight sweet coating. You could probably use any kind- just not a savory flavor.

Crumbled feta cheese

Briannas Poppy seed Dressing

Combine all the above ingredients together and sit back and wait for the compliments to come pouring in!

Moroccan Couscous Salad

This is one of my top five favorite summer salads!  

It's a meal in one, healthy, easy, tasty, different

and you can make a huge batch to keep in the fridge for lunch all week long.

Salad Ingredients

1 cup couscous

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 cup dried apricots, golden raisins or other dried fruit

2 chopped green onions

1/2 cup sliced almonds (optional, didn't use in cooking club)

Dressing Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 Tbsp lemon zest

1 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4-1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Preparation

Cook couscous in 2 cups chicken broth, or salted water.  

Mix salad ingredients together.

Mix dressing ingredients separately.

Mix salad & dressing together & chill 20 minutes or longer.

Chicken Salad Croissant

Chicken Salad Croissant
4 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup Kraft coleslaw dressing (Hidden Valley is fine, also)
1 cup mayo
1 can water chestnuts, chopped
5-6 green onoins, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 apple, chopped and diced
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups cooked shell macaroni
cashews, optional

Cook macaroni. Drain and cool. Add the coleslaw dressing and mayo. Let this sit for 10 minutes to soak into the pasta. Add water chestnuts, onion, celery, apple, pineapple, and chicken. Just before serving add cashews if desired. You can add sliced green seedless grapes (I add red grapes) if you would like. Serve on croissant rolls. This will serve about 15-20 people or 20 croissant rolls. I also love to eat the salad by itself without the bread. YUM! Sometimes I also decrease the chicken and increase the noodles depending on wht I have on hand. It's still just as wonderful.

Pear Salad!!

Pear Salad
This is my awesome cousin...ok Trent's awesome cousin, but I like to claim her as my own, made me lunch for me and Kamille the other day. How cool is that. Your friend calls says "Lets do lunch!" And she decides she is going to cook it all herself. I just have to provide some salmon I have in my freezer. Really, there is nothing better than that. Tracy is an awesome cook and for lunch she made Apricot Salmon, Pesto Baguettes and Pear Salad. This pear salad was to die for. And I am not kidding. I made it for my family the other night and they died over it too. So I got permission from Tracy to post this recipe, cuz I got a really good pic of it. Just know....that if you see a recipe from Tracy pop up on "Tried and True Ladies" then try it...you won't be disappointed.

Pear Salad

Tracy Fonger

1 head Romain lettuce

1 bag mixed greens ( I only used Romain cuz its all I had)

1/4 c. roasted walnuts or caramelized almonds

1/2 brick feta or bleu cheese

craisins

2 pears sliced

Dressing

1 c. sugar

1 t. salt

1/2 small red onion chopped

1 t. dry mustard

3/4 c. canola oil (I used olive)
1/2 c. red wine vinegar ( I used apple cider vinegar)

1 t. poppy seeds

Blend dressing thoroughly and chill. Toss desired amt. into salad just before serving.

Apple Lettuce Salad

So as not to commit Plagery I found this on allrecipes.com submitted by Marlen Muckenhirn.

1/4 C. apple juice (I use the juice from my bottled pears because I never have apple juice on hand.)
1 Tbl lemon fresh lemon juice
1 Tbl cider vinegar
1 Tbl oil
2 teas brown sugar
1/2 teas dijon mustard
1/8 teas pepper
dash salt
sprinkle of cinnamon

Mix together for dressing. Cut up an apple and put in the dressing so it won't turn brown. Tear up lettuce to fill a regular-ish size salad bowl. Just before serving add apple dressing mixture and toss.

You GOAT, girl salad

I know this has previously been posted by my cute sister and amazing cook Amber, but just to make it easier for you to get to this recipe I thought I would post again and put under Salads. Also I made this the other day for some friends and we all went crazy over it and I took a picture. So therefore....a new post.

You Goat, girl Salad

Dressing

1/3 c. walnut oil

2 T. rice wine vinegar

1 t. sugar

1/2 t. kosher salt

1 T. minced shallot

Freshly ground pepper

Salad

1 T. plus 1/4 t. salt

1 lb tender green beans, trimmed

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

2 t. walnut oil

12 ripe black mission figs, halved

vegetable oil for brushing

3 oz. goat cheese

To make the dressing: In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the dressing ingredients. Shake well, making sure the sugar dissolves. Set aside.

Fill a large pot with water, cover and boil. Have ready a large bowl of ice water. Add 1 T. salt to boiling water, then beans and cook until bright green and crip-tender, 2-4 minutes. Drain beans and plunge into the ice water until cold, about 1-2 minutes. Drain and wrap in several layers paper towels, and place in a plactic bag. Refridgerate until 30 minutes before serving.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325 F. toss walnuts with remaining 1/4 t. salt and walnut oil. Cook on baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, 8-10 min. Set aside.

Prepare a med. fire in grill. Brush figs with oil. Then grill on tinfoil for about 1 minute per side.

Place beans and figs in a large bowl and toss with dressing. Garnish with goat cheese and walnuts.

Recipe comes from : "Dressed to Grill" - Karen Brooks.