The Perfect Taco Salad

With spring weather coming in, I've been craving good salads.  We made this bowl of deliciousness last night for company, and we all absolutely loved it.  In fact, Gerald has admitted this is his new favorite meal!

I found this recipe on the Pioneer Woman's website.  The woman is a food genius.  The only change I made was I added the black beans.  I recommend you click here for full instructions and photos.

 

Ingredients

DRESSING 

• ¾ cups Ranch Dressing (bottled Is Fine) 
• ¼ cups Salsa (as Spicy As You'd Like) 
• 3 Tablespoons Finely Minced Cilantro 

CHICKEN

• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts 
• 2 Tablespoons Seasoning (Taco Seasoning, Or Your Own Mix) 
• ¼ cups Vegetable Oil 
• 2 Tablespoons Butter (I omitted the butter, and just used oil.)

SALAD

• 1 head Green Leaf Lettuce (1 Large Head Or Two Regular Heads), Shredded Thin 
• 3 whole Roma Tomatoes, Diced 
• ½ cups Grated Pepper Jack Cheese 
• 2 ears Corn, Shucked (I used frozen instead.)
• 2 whole Avocados, Diced 
• 3 whole Green Onions, Sliced 
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 
• ½ cups Cilantro Leaves 
• Tortilla Chips Of Your Choice (flavored Or Not), Crushed Slightly 

Directions:

First, make the dressing by combining all three ingredients in a bowl and stirring together. Cover and refrigerate. This takes like 1 minute.  :) 

Next, make the chicken: Generously season both sides of the breasts. Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken on both sides until deep golden brown on the outside and done in the middle, about 4 minutes per side. Remove and set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then cut it into cubes.

Place the ears of corn in the skillet you used to cook the chicken and roll it around so that the flavorful oil/butter mixture coats the corn.  If frozen, saute in the skillet until warm.  If using ears of corn, grill it on a grill pan or cook it in a separate skillet until the corn is still crisp but has color on the outside. Slice off the kernels with a sharp knife and set aside.

To assemble the salad, pile shredded lettuce, chicken, tomatoes, cheese, corn, avocado, green onion, black beans, cilantro, crushed chips, and chicken on a big platter. Drizzle the dressing all over the top, serving part on the side if you’d like. Serve it in individual bowls.

Vermicelli Salad

Here is the salad recipe Lindsay made from Trey's baby blessing. I know a lot of people wanted the recipe. It is really good.

16 oz vermicelli noodles
1 T accent seasoning
2 T Lawreys seasoning salt
1 T lemon juice
3 T Wesson oil ( I just use any Veg. oil)
4 oz jar chopped pimentos (optional)
1 Cup chopped green pepper
3/4 Cup chopped onion
1 can chopped olives
2 cups chopped celery
1 1/2 cups mayo

Chop up all the vegetables pretty small while the noodles are cooking. When noodles are done rinse in hot water. Add oil, seasonings, and lemon juice into the noodles. Add chopped veggies and then add mayo. Mix well .
* I usually half this recipe unless i am making it for a big crowd.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

This is one of my very favorite summer (or spring!) salads.

1 bunch spinach, rinsed

10 large strawberries, sliced

1/2 c. white sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/3 c. white wine vinegar

1 c. vegetable oil

1 T. poppy seeds

In a large bowl, combine the spinach and strawberries. In a blender or food processor, combine the sugar, salt, vinegar, oil and blend until smooth. Stir in poppy seeds. Pour enough for salad to coat and toss together well.

Deviled Eggs

Mom always made these for Easter dinner!

12 eggs
1/4 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. miracle whip
pinch of salt
Dill pickles, diced fine and thin
squirt of mustard
paprika

Boil the eggs until they are hard-boiled. Cool. Peel the shells off the eggs and cut neatly in half. Remove the yolks and put into a mixing bowl. Mix the yolks with the mayo, miracle whip, salt, pickles, and mustard. Spoon the yolk mixture back into the eggs, piling it up. Garnish with paprika salt on top. Serve or chill.