Recipe: Chipotle Chicken Salad

Once again, I was inspired by Pinterest for this recipe.  I love anything with corn and black beans, so I knew I would like this salad. It's great for this time of year with tomatoes, corn, and some chicken from the grill.  I have made salad very similar to this before; however, I tried  a new dressing recipe that I got from the Nutmeg Notebook website.

Ingredients:
Romaine lettuce
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of corn, drained (you could easily use frozen or fresh corn too)
Cherry tomatoes
Red onion
Grilled chicken
Avocado

All of these ingredients are pretty much optional.  I didn't use avocado, but if you like it, go ahead.  You could also add some cheese or strips of corn tortillas that you can get by the croutons.

Dressing:
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
2/3 cup light sour cream
1 tbsp. minced chipotle chile, canned in adobe sauce
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
4 tsp. lime juice
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix all these ingredients together and chill.  I used 2 tbsp. of chipotle chiles because I like spicy food and I didn't use quite as much cilantro because I think a little bit goes a long way for me.

So, all you have to do is prepare your salad and mix with the dressing.  I had spiced up my chicken with some of the similar spices, cumin, cajun, chili powder, salt and pepper.  I grilled it on the grill, and sliced it up for the salad.

I thought this turned out pretty good!  I thought the dressing was a nice change from the traditional ranch or lime dressing that would be used for this type of salad. I would have liked a little crunch, so next time I might have some tortilla strips on top.  Enjoy!

~Kate

Recipe: Raspberry Salsa Black Bean Dip

This is a recipe that my mother-in-law makes that is one of my absolute favorites! It's a great snack to make for a party or gathering and is always a crowd-pleaser.  It's so easy and delicious!

Ingredients:
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 package of cream cheese
1/2 cup to 1 cup of red onion, chopped
1 jar of raspberry salsa
1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
tortilla chips

This is so simple.  Get a glass baking pan, or other dish that can go in the oven.  Place the black beans on the bottom of the pan.  Next, slice pieces of cream cheese and layer on top of the black beans.

Pour the salsa over, layer the onion on top of the salsa, then top with the cheese.  You can refrigerate this until you are ready to bake it if you'd like to make it ahead of time.  When you are ready for the dip, put in the oven on 400 for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Serve with chips and enjoy!

I absolutely love this!  It's a great alternative to a regular salsa or taco dip.  (Sorry, forgot to take a picture after it baked), You can also use any kind of salsa you'd like, but I think raspberry is the best.  I have actually had a hard time finding raspberry salsa around here.  My mother-in-law has given me a couple jars because it is easier to find in Zanesville; however, I did see it at the Newtown Food Market one day.  I have looked at Kroger, Trader Joe's, and IGA and have had no luck, so if anyone knows where else you can find raspberry salsa, please share!

Enjoy!
~Kate

Recipe: Burrito Bowl Minus the Rice

Okay, I have to first apologize for the name of this recipe because I really didn't know what to call it.  I was inspired by Chipotle's burrito bowls, but didn't use rice, so thought the name was the best description I could come up with!  My husband is pretty obsessed with Chipotle--he always gets the burritos though, and I don't care for those as much, so I thought I'd throw together something like the burrito bowls.

These ingredients can be altered or added to according to your liking, but I'll share what I used.  I'm not going to put measurements because that is really up to you as well:

Ingredients:
Romaine lettuce
black beans, rinsed and drained
corn (frozen, canned, or fresh)
red pepper
red onion
red wine vinegar
hot salsa
mild salsa
sour cream
chicken (I bought some pre-cooked chicken that was cilantro-lime seasoned from Trader Joe's)
mozzarella cheese

1. First I made a little corn salsa real quick of my own.  I mixed some frozen corn that I had thawed and rinsed with about half a red pepper, and about 1/4th of a red onion with some cumin, salt, and red wine vinegar.  I let that set and chill while I got the rest of the ingredients together.

2.  I chopped the Romaine thin, rinsed the black beans, and heated up some chicken in the microwave.  This chicken was great to use.  It is pre-packaged from Trader Joe's and you choose as much as you need and heat up for about a minute then slice it up.  There are a variety of flavors as well.

3. Last, just mix everything together! I layered my black beans, then corn salsa, chicken lettuce and I added a bit of hot salsa and mild salsa.  (I also got the hot salsa from Trader Joe's which was great, and the mild salsa from Kroger).  I topped it off with some cheese and sour cream, mixed it up and enjoyed!

I thought this was great!  I had plenty of left-over ingredients to make the salad again for lunch later that week.  You could add cilantro, rice, turkey, a different cheese, or any other ingredients you might have in your pantry.  You could serve it with tortilla chips if you want some crunch or even crumble some up and throw it in the bowl.  This is a great meal that is fast and easy! Enjoy!
~Kate