A Recipe for Spring

I made this last night, it is one of my favorite spring/summer dinners (and one of the only times I can get the hubs to eat a salad for dinner). I designed it after the BBQ Chicken Salad at California Pizza Kitchen.

It's fun to make because a lot of it is not measured but added by taste or by eyeballing it (I have never really liked that phrase).

BBQ Chicken Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients:
8 cups romaine lettuce - chopped
4 chicken breast halves
1 can black beans - drained and rinsed
1 can sweet corn - drained and rinsed
1 diced avocado
chopped cilantro
1 lime - quartered
4 corn tortillas
Olive Oil
1 cup BBQ Sauce
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
Ranch dressing

Preheat oven to 350, mix bbq sauce and brown sugar. Place the 4 chicken breast halves in a 9x13 dish and pour bbq sauce mixture over them. Bake for 30 minutes, turn chicken and baste, bake 15-20 minutes longer. Do not overcook, chicken should be moist. Dice when done.

As a side note: This right here makes some pretty good chicken. Sometimes I just make this and have it with garlic mashed potatoes and veggies.

Put romaine in a large bowl, add corn, black beans, avocado, cilantro, and the juice of 2 quarters of the lime.

Toss salad with dressing
Dressing:
Mix ranch, bbq sauce, and juice from 1-2 quarters of the lime to taste. It should be a pinkish brown color.

Using a pizza slicer, cut the 4 tortillas into strips. Fry in olive oil until crispy.

Add tortilla strips and chicken to salad - you can leave it on top for a prettier look or toss it in with the rest of the salad.

Enjoy!