Barbecued Chicken Chopped Salad

Marinade:
1 large clove of garlic
1 large chopped onion
1 Bay leaf
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. ketchup
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. soy sauce
4-6 drops Tabasco sauce
1/4 C. lemon juice
½ C. olive oil
½ C. chicken stock
6-8 chicken breasts

In medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add rest of ingredients and boil 3-5 minutes. Lower to simmer for 5-8 minutes, then pour over chicken breasts. Refrigerate from 3 hour to overnight.

Place chicken breast on hot side of barbecue grill and cook until lines form. Make sure to reserve marinade for sauce. Once grill marks show on chicken, place them on cool side of the grill and close the lid. Cook until juices run clear. Take off grill and let sit 5 minutes before slicing chicken into long strips against the grain.

Place remaining marinade in small pan and simmer on medium heat until thickened.

Salad Dressing:
½ C. light mayonnaise
½ C. light Ranch dressing
1 T. chopped Cilantro
3-4 drops Tabasco sauce

Mix all together to make dressing.

Tortilla strips:
8-10 small corn tortillas cut into strips

Heat large pot of oil until a light smoke appears. Add strips one handful at a time and cook until light golden brown. Drain on paper towel and salt to taste while hot.

Salad:
4-5 large leaves Romaine lettuce (in bite size pieces)
2 cups Spinach (in bite size pieces)
1/3 of a medium red cabbage (chopped)
½ small Jicama (chopped)
1 green pepper (chopped)
1 lb. bacon, cooked to a crisp (chopped)
1 can (15oz) canned corn
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

Add together all salad ingredients and toss in large bowl. To assemble: Layer salad, chicken, bacon, dressing, tortillas, barbecue sauce and serve! Our family really like this salad. If there are leftovers they don’t stay around long.

Applebee's Oriental Salad

Serves/Makes: 1-2 dinner size salad

Oriental Dressing:
3 tbsp honey
1-1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp sesame oil

Salad:
3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup red cabbage
1 cup Napa cabbage
1/2 carrot, julienne or shredded
1 tbsp sliced almonds
1/3 cup chow mein noodles
Chicken:
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn flake crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 to 4 cups vegetable oil (for frying)

(Instead of frying the chicken in grease, I save myself some time (and fat), and just cook something similar to Tyson chicken (low-fat). By doing so, you will need to delete some of the above ingredients and a few of the instructions below.)

Preparation:
Preheat oil in deep fryer or deep pan over medium heat—You want the temperature of the oil to be around 350 degrees.

Blend together all ingredients for dressing in a small bowl with an electric mixer. Put dressing in refrigerator to chill while you prepare the salad.

In a small, shallow bowl beat egg, add milk, and mix well. In another bowl, combine flour with corn flake crumbs, salt and pepper. Cut chicken breast into 4 or 5 long strips. Dip each strip of chicken first into egg mixture then into the flour mixture, coating each piece completely. Fry each chicken finger for 5 minutes or until coating has darkened to brown.

Prepare salad by tossing the chopped romaine with the chopped red cabbage, Napa cabbage, and carrots.
Sprinkle almonds over the salad, then the chow mein noodles.

Cut the chicken into small bite-size chunks. Place the chicken onto the salad forming a pile in the middle.
Serve with salad dressing on the side.

This recipe is worth the effort it is very yummy!

ensalada de col (Mexican coleslaw)

I recently shared this recipe with a friend and when she declared yesterday that it was her favorite salad in the whole world, I thought maybe someone else might enjoy it too. It's not my favorite salad in the whole world (I think that would have to be the chopped salad from Outback with pecans and Gorgonzola.), but it is a very good coleslaw and I don't really care for slaw.

Ensalada de Col

From the Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison

Makes about 2 cups

2 ½ cups shredded green cabbage, or a mixture of green and red

½ small red onion, sliced think in rings and rings halved

1 carrot, grated

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons vinegar, preferably white

1 teaspoon fresh- ground black pepper

¾ teaspoon salt

½ to 1 teaspoon chile caribe or dried red chile flakes (optional)

¼ teaspoon sugar

Place the cabbage in a large bowl. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients, and when the sugar has dissolved, pour the mixture over the cabbage. Toss the cabbage with the dressing and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

Greek Rice Salad

I love salad and in the summer when the house is hot I like to make a salad the main dish for dinner. This is the one I really like. I usually add whatever other veggies I have on hand, like green peppers, cucumbers or even carrots. My kids really like rice but are not so fond of salad dressing so I usually take some rice out before I add the dressing so that they will eat it better. Greek Rice Salad Source: USA Rice Federation. For more good-tasting rice recipes, go to www.usarice.com Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings 3 cups cooked medium grain brown rice 1 cup red grape tomatoes; sliced in half 1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced 1/4 cup Feta vinaigrette dressing Salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste Romaine leaves Combine rice, tomato halves, olives and vinaigrette in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with whole Romaine leaves, which can be used like taco shells to hold filling. Alternatively, arrange Romaine leaves on a platter and place rice mixture on top of greens. Chill.

For an Italian Rice Salad, you might try substituting an Italian oil/vinegar-type dressing and green olives for the Feta vinaigrette dressing and the Kalamata olives.