A Great Summer Salad Recipe...

I'm always looking for a light, healthier recipe this time of year. It's been a refreshingly cooler 90-something for the last few days and goodness gracious, this girl is ready for Fall! Until then, we'll be eating lots of burgers with fresh fruit and potato salad, and lots of recipes like this one...

Here's what you need:

(ignore the green peppers- I've since realized that they are pointlesss... use jalapenos!)

Southwestern Chicken Chop Salad                                 Lauren's Latest {modified by me}

Salad:
2 cups cooked chicken (cut up into small chunks)
2 or 3 large jalapenos (seeded and diced)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can sweet yellow corn (drained)
2 roma tomatoes (seeded and diced)
2 large romaine hearts (chopped)
1/2 bunch cilantro (finely chopped)
2 just under ripe avocados (diced)
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
Dressing:
1 cup organic sour cream (it has a much better consistency!)
1/2 tablespoon spicy ranch seasoning
1/2 tablespoon taco seasoning
Splash of milk

First you'll get your chicken tenders cooked. I just put a bit of EVOO in a skillet, season both sides of the chicken tenders with S&P and cook them over medium heat for 4min on each side. Otherwise, you can just buy a rotisserie chicken at your local grocery store.

Then I set to chopping all the veggies... there's something cathartic about that I think. I usually leave most of the ingredients seperate, just in case we've got someone picky over for dinner. I put the romaine in one large bowl. Then add the beans, corn, tomato, jalepeno, cilantro in another. I leave the chips in another bowl, and the avacado gets chopped up last to avoid browning. You can, of course, just mix everything up in one large bowl like the original recipe, but that means it all needs to be eaten pretty quickly too... soggy salad, no thank you.

I just mix up the sour cream, seasonings, and add milk to get the right dressing consistency. The original recipe called for mayonaise... but I am anti-mayo. It's just the way it is. Why the weird globby white sauce in a jar? Anyways... I've never heard any complaints about my version.

Serve it up with extra chips on the table and some yummy salsa! Enjoy the rest of the hot summer months y'all!