Southwest Chopped Chicken Salad

Here's another recipe to use your shredded precooked chicken.

I loved this because it was so fresh! The dressing was really good, too! I needed to make more, and so I substituted sour cream for the Greek yogurt.

(this is not my picture)

This one is, though.

Ingredients

for the salad:
• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1 can sweet yellow corn (or 1 cup frozen corn, thawed)
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1 head ice berg lettuce, washed and chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 2 ripe avocados, diced
• 1 cup crushed tortilla chips

Dressing

for the dressing:
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp ranch seasoning
• 1 tbsp taco seasoning

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients together, excluding the tortilla chips.
2. In a small bowl stir all dressing ingredients together.
3. Pour dressing over salad, starting with about half of the dressing.
4. Toss to combine, then gradually add more dressing until it is dressed to your liking.
5. Top with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Iraeli Couscous Salad

My goodness, Couscous is expensive! And this salad was mediocre. But this blog is neglected and needed another recipe from me.

Here's how I made this: {Jayson and Lilly actually really liked it.}

Israeli Couscous Salad

1 cup Israeli couscous (you can buy it at Trader Joes)

2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

4 T olive oil, divided

1/2 medium sized red onion, finely chopped

1 oz cilantro, chopped

1/4 cup chopped tomato

1/4 cup chopped cucumber

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 lemon juice

sea salt to taste

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat 1 T olive oil over medium high heat. Add the couscous and stir about 1 minute, until the couscous is lightly browned. Stir in 2 cups of broth.* Cover with a lid and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the couscous has absorbed most of the liquid and is al dente. Drain in a colander but do not rinse.

Once cooled, stir in the remaining 3 T olive oil to coat and separate the grains. In a serving dish, combine the couscous with the rest of the ingredients. Spritz with lemon juice and adjust seasoning with the sea salt to taste.

Kale and Quinoa Pilaf

Do you have a hard-to-please vegan/nutritionist coming to visit and you need something to feed them? How about this: (It was actually neat to try a food I've never tried before. I left out the goat cheese and pine nuts, and used olive oil instead of walnut oil. Sorry for the hyperlinks in the recipe. I think if you click them, it will just take you to more recipes with that ingredient.)

Serves 2-4
2 cups salted water.
1 cup quinoa

1 bunch lacinato kale, washed and chopped into 1" lengths
1 meyer lemon, zested and juiced

2 scallions, minced
1 tablespoon toasted walnut oil
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
salt and pepper

Bring the water to a boil in a covered pot. Add the quinoa, cover, and lower the heat until it is just enough to maintain a simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes, then top with the kale and re-cover. Simmer another 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow to steam for 5 more minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking, take a large serving bowl and combine half of the lemon juice (reserving the other half), all of the lemon zest, scallions, walnut oil (you can substitute olive oil if you desire), pine nuts, and goat cheese. Check the quinoa and kale when the cooking time has completed -- the water should have absorbed, and the quinoa will be tender but firm, and the kale tender and bright green. If the quinoa still has a hard white center, you can steam a bit longer (adding more water if needed). When the quinoa and kale are done, fluff the pilaf, and tip it into the waiting bowl with the remaining ingredients. As the hot quinoa hits the scallions and lemon it should smell lovely. Toss to combine, seasoning with salt and pepper, and the remaining lemon juice if needed

Spinach and Tortellini Salad

This cold pasta salad is perfect for potlucks or lunches! Yum!

1 (9 ounce) package cheese-filled tortellini
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives
1 cup Italian-style salad dressing

Directions
In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta until al dente, rinse under cold water and drain.
In a large bowl, combine the tortellini, spinach, cheese, tomatoes and olives. Add enough salad dressing to coat. Toss and season with salt and pepper. {I let in sit in the fridge for a while to chill out.}