Southwest Chicken Chop Salad

Getting naked is all the rage. That is, according to my 3 year old who apparently just realized that she can get completely undressed in 17 seconds flat, get to the couch and jump while screaming “I’m naked!! I’m naked!”

This happened twice yesterday.

And thrice the day before.

It’s shocking, thrilling and quite the show.

Chop salads are also all the rage. At least I think they are. And so do the folks at California Pizza Kitchen. Their bbq chicken chop salad is my absolute favorite thing on the menu next to the chinese chop salad….and all that pizza.

Basically, I want to live there.

Anyways, the other day I thought I’d experiment with some leftover black beans and roasted chicken I had in my fridge. Best decision ever. Crunchy, fresh, salty, sweet, creamy and southwesty…there’s a little something for everyone! Plus, there was no cooking involved! BONUS.

The only downside to chop salads is all that darn chopping. Go figure! For me, this took 30 minutes start to finish. But that was with a toddler hanging onto my right pant leg while I was doing the prep and taking step by step photos. So, you should expect 20 minutes of work time, I’d say. Besides that, you should be good to go. This is a really straight forward recipe and superly awesomly amazing tasting. Here’s how you do it:

Let the chopping begin! Get some chicken and green peppers chopped and in a big bowl along with some black beans.

Add in some corn,

diced tomatoes,

minced green onion,

chopped lettuce and cilantro {not pictured.}

You’re also going to want to slice up some avocados too. Mmm….avocados.

For the dressing, take equal parts of mayo and sour cream and stir together with

some taco seasonings, ranch dip mix,

and pepper and salt to taste.

Stir it up and voila! Southwest creamy dressing.

Pour enough dressing over the top to moisten everything and toss.

Once that dressing is mixed in, you can store the salad in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. Once you are ready to devour this, stir in some crushed tortilla chips with that ripe avocados.

Once you stir it all together you can see how yummy and colorful this looks! Mmmm….

Hope you like this one, guys! Have a great weekend!

Southwest Chicken Chop Salad
yield: 4 servings
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Ingredients:
2 cups diced rotisserie chicken
1 green pepper, diced
1 cup black beans
1 cup sweet yellow corn {canned or frozen and defrosted}
2 roma tomatoes, diced
4 scallions, washed and sliced {white and green parts}
1 large romaine heart, washed and chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped
2 just under ripe avocados, diced
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
for the dressing-
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tablespoon ranch seasoning
1/2 tablespoon taco seasoning
1/2 tablespoon lime juice {optional}
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:
In a large bowl, stir all salad ingredients together, excluding the tortilla chips and avocado. In a small bowl, stir all dressing ingredients together until smooth. When ready to serve, toss salad with dressing then gently stir in avocado and tortilla chips.