Monday Meals: BBQ Chicken Salad

As I grow older, salads are more and more appealing. A delicious Cobb, Caesar or Fajita salad are wonderful fallbacks if and when I've reached my sandwich quota for the week. Though I love them now, I'd never made a salad at home that was a full meal. I decided to try this one from Cheerios and Lattes last week after a weekend of very unclean eating. It may not be the healthiest salad in the world, but it satisfied my craving for some greens and tasted amazing. Anything with BBQ sauce and Ranch dressing...sign me up.

Ingredients:

Your favorite lettuce (I used baby spinach)
3 or 4 boneless chicken, cooked and chopped
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1 red pepper, diced
Colby Jack shredded cheese
Tortilla strips
Your fave BBQ sauce (I used Stubbs Sauce from Austin)
Ranch or Lite Ranch dressing

Roast corn, red pepper and black beans in skillet. Once the veggies are roasted and warm, toss lettuce, chicken and vegetables in a large bowl. Add tortilla strips and cheese. Drizzle with BBQ sauce. In another bowl, mix 1/3 cup of Ranch with 1/3 of BBQ sauce, then add to salad. Toss and serve.

Father's Day and The Grill

I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend, and all the fathers out there were celebrated and loved on. I played in a golf tournament with my dad on Saturday, and we spent Sunday lounging by the pool and drinking margaritas: exactly how I like it. My brother wanted to cook out for dinner, so mom and I followed his directions Sunday afternoon and put the steaks in the marinade while he drove back from San Antonio.

Marinade for four large steaks:

2 cups BBQ sauce (your favorite!)

1 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 cups Italian dressing

In the meantime, I watched a few hours of the golf, swam in the pool, and then dad let me try out his faux polo pony. I haven't been on a horse in years, so it was a little awkward.

Especially in a dress...

My brother got home and the cooking began. I'm trying to make this coincide with Monday Meals, but the truth is, I don't know much about grilling out. I've watched a lot, but I can't really tell you much about the process. I guess just...cut into the steaks to know when they're done, and grill the onions until they are soft and see-through. And buy some pre-made garlic bread from United. That's the best money you'll ever spend on food. Ever.

So much focus.

We've hardly ever marinaded and I think a lack of forethought is to blame. But these steaks were so tender and flavorful that I hope I remember to marinade every time from now on. We ate outside as the day slid into night, and the twilight hours were balmy and calm. We drank a great bottle of red and passed out cards and presents to the man of the hour. Dad's are the best, and especially mine.

Those glasses.

I hope you were able to spend some time with the father figures in your life yesterday, or at the very least, showed them how much you love them.