Our grocery shopping trip this weekend happened with this recipe in mine, so I picked up some obvious choices from the original recipe: chickpeas, avocado,corn, and cilantro (oh my gosh I just love cilantro!). I pulled out those ingredients, along with a typical bag of pre-bagged salad (anyone else enjoy a good short cut?). Next question, what else is in the crisper? Peppers? Sure. Red? Yes, I love the sweetness. And a green one for me to munch on while I'm chopping (or there would be no salad left for the hubby...).
I get to chopping. Sweet red pepper slices, mmmm. One chopped slice in the bowl, another in my mouth. What cook doesn't eat while they cook...? After I chopped the red pepper I thought half a green pepper would add that extra crunch. Since the recipe called for a chopped salad, I tossed the bagged salad and cilantro (...I'm going to mention the heavenly smell of cilantro quite often...) in the bowl and used the non-cooking school method of sharp knife and fork to hold in place to chop my salad.
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At this point, I've got peppers and salad, and continue on to the corn. Now the recipe called for grilled corn. I only had a can of corn. But I still wanted that grilled flacor. So I decided to saute the corn with a little (seriously, VERY little) amount of olive oil until they started getting those telltale "grill" marks on them (and by grill I of course mean saute pan). I seasoned them with a little bit of seasoned salt and popped them in the fridge to cool down. (Here is where I decided, oh, I should be taking pictures...)
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(I am so breaking a Food Safety rule here, and yes I am actually food safety certified. Technically hot food [and I mean hot, not just warm] should not be cooled in the fridge as it can put other food items at risk. Since I knew it was only for a short time, I broke the rule. But please, if you will put hot food in to STAY in the fridge, get it to a cooler temperature first or at least keep it away from high risk foods like milk.)
To recap, I have chopped salad and cilantro, red pepper, green pepper, and grilled corn. I then drained half a can of chickpeas and added it to the salad as well. I love chickpeas on a salad, and bonus, it adds fiber! Then I looked very sadly at my avocado...and was 99% sure I couldn't use it. I had accidently stored it in the fridge, rather than the counter, and it didn't soften the way I needed it to. It took me cutting it all the way around and my strong *coughhotcough* hubby had to twist it open. Sure enough...not nearly ripe enough to use in my salad. Bummer.
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True genius then came out. Without an avocado, I tried to think if there was anything else. Apple. Is there anyone else out there who just loves sweet fruit on a salad? I absolutely love it. And now that it is fall, apples are finally on sale again! I found these absolute beauties in the produce section of Publix.
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Are these not gorgeous? Bright green, shiny, huge! I think I fell in love a little...
I chopped them up in bite size pieces and mixed with a tiny bit of lemon juice before adding them to the salad (I was making this a few hours in advance and didn't want them to brown).
Meanwhile...I had marinated my chicken earlier in Lawry's Balsamic and Herb, but you could really use any marinade you wanted for whatever flavor you were looking for. This one was just open in the fridge already, and went with my "vision" for my salad. My chicken was Sanderson Farms strips (BOGO at Winn Dixie this week!) and I threw them on the grill. One of the rare perks I find during fall in Florida...we can still grill on the patio.
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And finally...the assembly. This happened about two hours after all the prep, which gave the chicken time to cool down so the whole salad was crisp and cold (I'm not a big fan of warm protein put on top of a cold salad).
We were trying to decide what type of dressing to use, and my amazing (and did I mention "hot" yet?) hubby suggested mixing ranch and BBQ like they do at Panera. He is so smart ;) And thus, the birth of my most incredible salad creation ever. I am dubbing this the "End of Summer Salad", as it mixes crisp summer flavor like barbeque with the incoming fall flavors, such as the apple. And the best thing about this salad? You can adjust it to whatever flavors you like more or whatever salad fixins you have on hand! Enjoy!!
End of Summer Salad
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Prepackaged salad
1 bunch of cilantro
1 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
1 bunch of green onions
1 cup canned corn
1 tsp olive oil
Seasoned salt
1/2 can of chickpeas
1/2 Granny Smith apple
1 tsp lemon juice
1 package chicken breast
Marinade of choice
Ranch dressing
BBQ sauce
1. Marinate chicken a minimum of one hour before grill time. Pierce the chicken with a fork to better absorb marinade.
2. Create the base of your salad by chopping the prepackaged salad and cilantro (use amount to accommodate your tastes).
3. Prepare your vegetables. Cut the peppers into bite size pieces and add to chopped salad.
4. Chop half a bunch of green onios (or adjust to your tastes).
5. Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a small saute pan on medium high heat. Add the corn and saute until small saute marks begin to appear. Remove from pan, add seasoned salt to taste, and cool.
6. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add to the salad bowl.
7. Cut half a Granny Smith apple into bit size pieces. Mix with lemon juice and add to the salad bowl.
8. Grill marinated chicken until done. Chill, if desired. Cut into bite size pieces and add to salad.
9. Drizzle ranch dressing and BBQ sauce (or dressing of your choice) over the salad.
