Spicy Chicken Salad with Bell Pepper and Cilantro

Not the best picture to show how tasty the salad was because the dressing wasn't on yet but I promise, this salad did it's job. I didn't want to go to the grocery store and wanted to eat something light for dinner. I found this spicy chicken salad recipe on Epicurious and made it for Shea and I the other night. I modified it to our liking. Many of the reviews had said to cut the oil in half and they were right. I also added radishes. This is great if you have left over chicken to use, Trader Joe's grilled chicken strips in the freezer, a rotisserie chicken from the store. I didn't have any of those so I just baked some chicken breast with a little salt and pepper and very little olive oil and cut into strips.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1 teaspoon ground cumin

4 cups diced cooked chicken (about 1 pound)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

3/4 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon chopped seeded jalapeno chili

1 bunch sliced radishes (optional)

4 cups chopped romaine lettuce

2 cups grape tomatoes or 2 large tomatoes, cut into wedges

Directions:

Whisk 1ST 5 ingredients in large bowl to blend. Mix in chicken, bell pepper, onion, radish, cilantro and chili. Season chicken salad with salt and pepper. Add lettuce to chicken salad; toss to combine.

*Serve with warm tortillas or top with a little plain yogurt or light sour cream.*

BBQ Chicken Salad

After a Saturday FULL of hearty Italian food made by my father-in-law and carrot cake to celebrate birthdays, a salad was in order. I've made this a few times before and it's pretty easy to memorize as well as modify to your liking or whatever's in the fridge. It's pretty similar to Cheesecake Factory's BBQ Chicken Salad but I did get the recipe from Neda. Last night we forewent the avocado and it was still great.

Ingredients:

Romaine Lettuce

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, cooked and cut into small strips (I bake mine with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper or you can boil it)

1 Cucumber, peeled and chopped

Tomatoes, diced

1 can black beans

Corn, toasted

Avocado

French's Crispy Onion Strings

BBQ sauce

Light Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing

Directions:

Put corn on a baking sheet and broil for just a few minutes, until nice and toasted.

In a bowl, mix equal parts ranch dressing and BBQ sauce to make dressing.

Toss the lettuce, corn, tomato, cucumber, black beans and chicken together.

Serve and top each bowl with dressing, avocado slices and a handful of crispy onions strings.

Chinese Chicken Salad with Ramen Noodles!

Who doesn't like ramen noodles? This salad is always a crowd pleaser and is also a good/easy pot luck go-to. The recipe has been around for awhile so it's nothing new under the sun but I recently remembered it and have made it twice this month (once for dinner at home and once for a pot luck). Easy. Refreshing. Delicious.

Ingredients:

1 Bag of Shredded Iceberg Lettuce

1/2 head of cabbage, shredded

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

2 bags of ramen noodles (oriental flavor-blue package), crushed

1 large bunch of green onions, chopped

1 package of sunflower seeds

1 package of slivered almonds (I used the brand Almond Accents usually found in the produce section)

1 Cup of vegetable oil

5 Tblsp. of rice vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

2 flavor packets from Ramen noodles (set aside for dressing mixture)

Directions:

Combine the shredded chicken, chopped green onions, lettuce and cabbage, sunflower seeds and slivered almonds into large salad bowl. Crush the ramen noodles then open and toss with the salad. Set aside the flavor packets for the dressing.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar and flavor packets from the ramen noodle packages.

Pour over salad, toss and enjoy!

Easiest Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is a great fall/winter recipe. Since we've finally been having some cold weather and rainy days, I've been feeling like eating some warm soup. I remembered my friend Carly had made some delicious tortilla soup a few years ago at her Tupperware party. I sent her a text and she sent me the recipe right over. I didn't realize it would be this easy! My family was very happy with this recipe so I'm positive I'll be making this again and again.

2 Cans of Corn

2 Cans of Rotell diced tomatos with chillis

2 Cans of Ranch Style Beans with jalepenos

2 Cans of Chicken Broth

2 Cans of Cream of Chicken soup

1 rotisserie chicken

tortilla chips

shredded cheese (I use reduced fat mexican style)

light sour cream

Add all 10 cans to a large pot or crock pot (DO NOT DRAIN ANY OF THE CANS) and stir. Pull all the meat off the rotisserie chicken and add to the pot. Stir and heat! Serve in a bowl then add chips, shredded cheese and sour cream to your liking. Enjoy!

*Don't forget the Tapatio!*

Poppyseed Chicken

This is a dish that is easy and good to make for pot lucks, funerals, etc. I made it for my sister-in-law after she had baby Mia and they loved it. It is such a good comfort food.

Ingredients:

2 or 3 chicken breasts, boiled and cut in small pieces
1 16 oz sour cream2 cans cream of chicken
2 tbls of poppyseeds (I don't measure - I just shake a ton in)
1 roll of Ritz crackers
1 stick of butter
white rice

Directions:

Mix the first 4 ingredients and put in a baking dish. Cover with crushed up ritz crackers. Melt a stick of butter and pour on top. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350. Serve over rice.