salad

The weather has been gorgeous lately…cool temps in the morning perfect for early morning runs, sunny and warm in the afternoon along with a few afternoon showers. It’s really starting to feel like summertime!

Which reminds me…bathing suit season is right around the corner! I wanted to get away from all the comfort food I’ve been making lately. A friend of mine shared her weekly meal plan and introduced me to The Garden Grazer. You need to go check this site out! Seriously. This site is FULL of wonderfully delicious vegetarian and vegan meals!

I made Southwestern Chopped Salad with Cilantro Dressing the other night but I added some chicken for the hubby. He enjoys salad as much as I do but more as a side dish, not for the main course.

I didn’t have much time to search for a “recipe” of any sorts so I just spritzed the chicken with olive oil and sprinkled McCormick’s Chipotle & Roasted Garlic seasoning on top. I cooked it for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Perfect!

I washed and spun dry the romaine lettuce, chopped the orange pepper, cherry tomatoes, green onions & cilantro. Then I started prepping for the dressing, all while the chicken cooked. Super easy!

I’m not a fan of avocado, so I chose to use plain greek yogurt for the dressing. I added lime juice, garlic, olive oil, white wine vinegar and salt. Kaitlin, The Garden Grazer, recommended to add a bit of honey if the dressing tasted too tart. I’m used to plain greek yogurt but I wasn’t sure the hubby would like it as much so I added the honey to sweeten it and it came out great! Next time, I would LOVE to try it with some cayenne pepper! I love a lil’ kick!

Since it was the just two of us, I made individual bowls. I put the romaine in, a few spoonfuls of veggies and topped it with the Cilantro Dressing.

Would you believe that while we were cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, I saw the corn and black beans sitting on the counter…completely untouched. Yep, I forgot to add them. Ha! So maybe the salad wasn’t quite as “southwestern” as it was supposed to be but it was still amazing!

This dressing is so unbelievably delicious that I think I’m going to make it the next time we host a party. I’ll chop up a bunch of fresh veggies and leave them out to dip in the dressing. Although, my husband told me that he doesn’t need any lettuce or veggies, he just needs a spoon! Score! This one is a keeper! Thank you Kaitlin!