As you’ll quickly learn, I LOVE COOKING. Needless to say, this will be the first of many recipe posts.
I have endless go-to meals that I keep ingredients for on hand so that I can whip them up in a second’s notice, but I also enjoy trying new things. I found this particular recipe on Pinterest. It is originally from the Ambitious Kitchen blog, but I renamed it. I have made it a couple of times for my (somewhat picky) boyfriend and we can’t get enough of it. It is healthy, full of flavor and pretty inexpensive to make — a triple threat if you ask me!
Barbeque Chicken Salad
2 large romaine hearts
1 cup of pulled, cooked chicken breast
1 can (15.5oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in halves
3/4 cup sweet corn
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, washed and chopped
1 avocado, diced
1 small red onion, diced
Barbeque dressing to taste
Instructions: Throw everything in a bowl, toss and enjoy!
The reason I love cooking so much is because you can make any recipe your own. For example, the original recipe does not include red onion, but I love it, so I threw it in. If you don’t want to cook your own chicken breasts, buy an already cooked rotisserie chicken or even canned chicken will do. If you have any other kind of tomato, use it and just chop it into bite sized pieces or wedges. The first time I made this, I used corn that I steamed and cut off the cob. This time, corn on the cob wasn’t in season, so I substituted canned corn (drained) and it was just as good. My boyfriend isn’t a huge cilantro fan, so this time I left it out. The best part of this recipe, to me, is the barbeque sauce as dressing. YUM. You can use as much or as little of your favorite barbeque sauce as you like. One of my favorites is Head Country (original flavor), which is coincidentally made in Oklahoma. If you’re trying to watch your calorie intake, a trick I learned from my mom is to use half of the amount of the flavored dressing (Barbeque sauce in this case) and half of a light balsamic vinaigrette. My favorite balsamic vinaigrettes are Newman’s Own and even Kraft’s light version.
Note: Yes, I instagrammed the picture and therefore it has a filter. But I promise, this salad is just as good as it looks here!
warmest wishes, J 