This salad is the bomb.com. It hits all the nutrient components and it’s easy to make and also prep to be able to put together for lunch or dinner a few times throughout the week! I used left over shredded, smoked turkey I had in the freezer from a previous BBQ we had. I am notorious for freezing food that we have leftover and finding ways to re-use it later. I hate wasting food! When I realized I had the frozen BBQ meat, the first thing that came to mind was a BBQ chicken (in my case turkey) salad. Not to mention, June and I just picked fresh lettuce and cucumbers from the garden today. Yum!
The Healthier Dressing Secret
I like to use good BBQ sauce and ranch as the dressing for this salad. I use Stubbs Original BBQ Sauce (my favorite BBQ sauce) and I make my own healthy version of ranch from the packet. The reason I say “healthier” is because the BBQ sauce has sugar and sodium in it and the ranch packet still has sodium, so use sparingly. I am a stickler on portion size, so I don’t use too much dressing on the salad anyway.
How to Make the Ranch:
1 Packet Simply Organic Ranch Dressing Mix
1/2 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1/3 – 1/2 Cup Skim Milk or non-dairy Milk (if you prefer)
Simply add the ingredients together in a mason jar and shake until combined. If you like the consistency a bit thinner add more milk.
Let’s Make the Salad
Ingredients:
2 Cups Red Leaf Lettuce
1/4 Cup Chopped Tomato
1/4 Cup Shredded Carrot
1/4 Cup Sliced Red Onion
1/4 Cup Frozen Corn (boiled or roasted)*
1/3 Cup Black Beans**
1/4 Cup Cucumber (optional) – I had it in my garden, so I threw it in
1/4 Cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
3-4 oz Shredded Chicken tossed lightly in BBQ sauce
1 Tbsp Ranch
1 Tbsp Stubbs BBQ Sauce
Place the lettuce on a plate or large bowl. Layer with all of the yummy ingredients. Drizzle with BBQ sauce and ranch and Enjoy!
Notes:
* I used frozen corn in this case because I had it on hand. You can either roast the corn in a pan for added flavor or just boil and strain it. An even better option is to use corn on the cob if you have it laying around.
** You can use canned black beans, just make sure you strain and rinse them. I like to cook my own black beans, by soaking them overnight, then boiling them in chicken broth for added flavor for about 45 minutes or until desired consistency.
