Last time I was out in Utah I went to California Pizza Kitchen for the first time. My sister in law suggested I try the barbeque chicken salad and she raved about how good it is. And boy was it good! Since then I found a recipe online and have made it nearly every week for the past month. Steve and I love it!
This is the recipe I went off of, but I honestly don't measure anything. I just add as much of each thing as I like!
-1/2 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
-1/2 head romaine lettuce leaves -- chopped
-12 large fresh basil leaves cut into thin strips
-1 pound jicama -- cut into thin strips or small cubes
-2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
-1 cup canned black beans -- rinsed and drained
-1 cup sweet white corn kernels (I like fresh corn off the cob... just stick the corn cob in the microwave for a minute so it is slightly cooked, then cut the kernels off the cob. Or I guess you could use canned corn or frozen corn.....)
-3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
-2 pounds ripe fresh tomatoes -- diced
-1/2 cup good quality bottled sweet and spicy barbecue sauce (or whatever kind of barbeque sauce you like)
-1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion greens (green onions)
-Avocados, chopped (these aren't actually in the recipe, but at the restaurant we had the option of adding avocado and we did. I love avocado.)
For the chicken, I go the super easy/quick route and just chop up some chicken breasts, then cook them in a skillet. Then I toss it all in barbeque sauce. Or, you can add oil and garlic to the pan that you cook the chicken in. However you cook it, in the end you just need chicken coated in barbeque sauce!
The dressing is some garden herb ranch dressing. I didn't actually make that, I ended up just mixing fat free sour cream with a packet of Hidden Valley ranch mix. That way the dressing is fat free and I feel like I can eat TONS of the salad! You could also just use regular bottled ranch if that's what you have on hand. Or one time I ended up using this spicy ranch that I had made for a previous meal, because I already had that in the fridge (I will post that recipe as well... stay tuned).
The recipe also calls for fried tortilla strips. I never felt like going through the effort of making those, so I never did. But, a friend of mine said she made a more healthy alternative by salting and baking wonton wrappers.
Okay, now here's how you put the salad together:
In a large mixing bowl, toss together the lettuces, basil, jicama, Monterey Jack cheese, beans, corn, cilantro, and ranch dressing. Transfer the salads to chilled serving plates. Surround each salad with diced tomatoes (and tortilla strips if you are using them). Top each salad with chunks of Grilled Garlic BBQ Chicken and drizzle the chicken with the barbecue sauce. Garnish with the scallion.
Or, if you don't want to be fancy, just mix everything together except the chicken, then top with the chicken and barbeque sauce.
Sooooo good... you know you want some......
