BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad
You guys.
It’s the the third week of school and the dreaded letter has already come home. The letter that instantly sends parents into a panic. The letter that makes you start itching all over and contemplating whether homeschooling might be a better idea than ever having this damn letter ever come home again. You contemplate whether a pixie cut might look good….on all of you.
I go straight up 72 hour psych hold over the thought of bugs in my hair or the girls hair. After their nightly shower, I’m a head lamp wearing, comb wielding, anti-lice spray lunatic as I scour their heads inch by inch.
Thank goodness we are all clear. Each day the girls hair is coated in anti-lice spray (which is a delicious Rosemary smell so it just makes them smell even more yummy) and pulled back into some headache inducing hairstyle that hopefully deters any jumping bugs from making contact with my kiddos.
Such a perfect food blog subject, right? Like, you are totes excited to talk food now, aren’t you? I promise my recipes are always bug free so give this salad a shot. It’s beyond delicious and is another easy weeknight meal. For the kiddos, just keep the jalapeño on the side.
- 2 cups diced chicken, cooked (feel free to cheat with Trader Joe's Just Chicken or any stores rotisserie chicken)
- 6 cups mixed greens (I love baby kale, arugula and the spicy spinach blend from Trader Joe's)
- 1/2 cup pearl or grape tomatoes, cut in half
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 3/4 cup canned corn, drained
- 3/4 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 3/4 cup jack and cheddar cheese blend OR 1/2 cup Crumbled Gorgonzola
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup ranch dressing (in a pinch, I like the Homestyle Ranch or Jalapeño Ranch by Litehouse)
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
- 1/2 cup tortilla strips
- 1 jalapeno, diced (optional)
- This is going to be really complicated... you ready?
- Add salad to four bowls.
- Top with tomato, corn, beans, cheese, cilantro, onions, chicken and jalapeño.
- Drizzle with Ranch dressing and BBQ sauce. Top with tortilla strips and serve!
Mommy Bistro: Chef, Mom and Lice Hunter
Farro and Arugula Salad
I keep doing this. I fall off the face of the planet and then I come back apologizing for being gone for so long. But here’s the deal: My life; my kids, husband, and commitments surrounding them are what comes first. It’s not that I don’t love sharing my recipes and writing for Mommy Bistro. It’s that I was busy playing an epic game of hide-n-go-seek or teaching our daughters how to tie their shoes. It’s that I’ve been busy volunteering for their two schools or taking them to gymnastics and art class.
Kitchen Sink Salad
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Chipotle Skirt Steak Salad
Holy Macarons. What a busy week!
I had my best friend’s little boy for a few days and we had such a great time. Going to the beach, a birthday party, eating way too many sweets and being spoiled rotten by his auntie (me) because that is what aunties DO. Which of course means my house looked like a bomb had gone off. There were toys everywhere, dishes piled up, laundry overflowing, sand everywhere. I love the beach but how is it possible that every time I go, I end up bringing home a good eight gallons with me? Between the wagon, sand toys, and baby buttcracks; the sand took OVER.
Kate’s Crispy Egg Salad
I’ve been busy all day playing hide and seek with the girls and enjoying my little spidergirl. One of my best girlfriends lives in Chicago and works for McDonald’s corporate. When she heard how much my little Buggies loves Spiderman, she sent a HUGE box stuffed with all things Spidey. I mean really; coloring, t-shirts, nail polish, a slip and slide, backpack, sunglasses, the list goes on. Which put Buggies into Spidey-Heaven. She immediately changed out of her adorable tutu dress and into some brown pants and her spidey shirt. And then grabbed her sunglasses and backpack and told me she was off to gymnastics camp.
“Cantaloupe….Got a Date” Salad
As a part of our ongoing healthy dieting, (we did a week of raw…that’s all we could handle!) I came up with this fabulous salad. You think it’s going to be sweet but then you get a little bite of the red onion with the avocado and cantaloupe and it’s fabulous.
Roasted Vegetable Salad
The hubby had this crazy idea to eat a raw diet for one week. No bacon. No meat of any kind. Shit, nothing COOKED. I thought he was insane. I mean, really. This is the man who physically CANNOT go without protein for breakfast on the weekends. And now he wants to eat raw fruits and vegetables for a WEEK? And this is the girl who loves to cook heart warming, gloriously comforting food. With butter, and cream and all things delicious. But, alas! We are on day three and doing great.
Roasted Artichoke and Asparagus Pasta Salad
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Sigh….
I was craving asparagus and mushrooms and with that, a new recipe was born. This pasta salad kicks my old pasta salad’s ass.
Raspberry and Goat Cheese Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette
My hubby is awesome. Sometimes, he really plans out thoughtful and fun presents for me. My absolute favorite musical instrument is the cello. I love the deep, passionate, resonating sound it makes. When we got married, I walked down the aisle to Jeux D’eau which is a song from the Cirque de Soleil show, “O.” About thirty seconds in, a cello starts and it’s one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.
Back when we still lived in Sherman Oaks, he rented a cello for me and got me private cello lessons. I LOVED IT! It was so much fun to learn – it was a LOT of work. I never realized how difficult it was. The funny part is, I guessed what he had planned for me. I wrote it down, brought it with us and showed it to him when we pulled up at my first cello lesson. He was gobbsmacked. Totally speechless. Honestly could not believe that I had guessed it.