Chicken

Buffalo Chicken Salad with Avocado Ranch

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

In an effort to keep a balanced diet, I try to do Salad Night once a week. As you could imagine, this could become pretty monotonous – unless you’re a rabbit and you like that kind of thing.

When I met my husband in college, he did not eat lettuce. He didn’t eat too many vegetables actually. On our one year anniversary I prepared a three course meal, complete with Caesar Salad. He amused me and ate a couple bites. He said it was a texture thing. That I don’t get – lettuce is light, and crisp, and refreshing! After we got married and I fell in love with cooking, our pallets became more adventurous. His more so than mine I’m sad to admit. He eats vegetables now! And better yet, salads. He’ll even choose salad at a restaurant while I opt for the burger.

Buffalo Chicken Salad with Avocado Ranch

Ingredients:

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 1/4 C hot sauce
  • 1 tbsp dry ranch seasoning
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 6 tbsp Ranch dressing
  • 4 C salad mix
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 2 Roma tomatoes, deseeded and diced

Steps

  1. Marinate chicken for at least two hours in hot sauce and ranch seasoning. Grill chicken until cooked through.
  2. In a blender, puree avocado and ranch dressing.
  3. Assemble salad with remaining ingredients. Top with chicken and dressing.

*This recipe is modified from Amanda at http://www.theskinnyfork.com/blog/skinny-grilled-buffalo-chicken-salad*

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Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

~ lk529 ~ 6 Comments

You’ve probably heard of Taco Tuesdays. In my household, we do Mexican Mondays. It allows for more versatility. It’s a culinary “tradition” that we’ve been doing for over a year and I’m impressed that I’ve been able to keep it fun and interesting. There are a few recipes that have become tried and true favorites and I will and do repeat them, but more often than not I’m finding something new to try.

These Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas are a best seller – we’ll even have them any day of the week! If I’m entertaining family or friends, this is a simple go-to. And I haven’t gotten a single complaint yet! My mom’s cousin claims to hate honey, yet she cleared her plate.

The very first time I made this dish was after a vacation and my fridge and pantry were pretty empty. I did not have green enchilada sauce and knew that without tomatillos I wasn’t going to be able to make my own either. But, I found Emeril’s recipe for red enchilada sauce and had everything on hand to make that. Enchilada sauce is now a pantry staple, so I don’t bother making my own anymore. (But in a pinch I’ll always come back to Emeril’s recipe.)

The second time I made this dish, we had a crowd so I doubled the recipe. Because we loved it with red enchilada sauce, we decided to keep one casserole dish with red and with the other tried the green. I haven’t made it with green since! I’ve noticed that the red (medium heat) enchilada sauce creates a unique flavor profile with the chicken that keeps you coming back for more. But I urge you to try it both ways and see what works best for your family.

The recipe calls for cooked chicken and I have tried just about every preparation of cooked chicken with this dish. Honestly, my favorite is using grilled chicken, the extra flavor you get from the grill rounds out the dish perfectly. My quick go-to method is putting a whole chicken in the slow cooker, but you can easily pick up a rotisserie chicken from the store on your way home!

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

  • 1 lb cooked shredded chicken
  • 6 tbsp honey
  • Zest 2-3 limes
  • juice 2-3 limes
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce (red or green)
  • 1/4-1/2 C heavy cream
  • 8 oz Mexican-blend shredded cheese
  • 8-10 soft taco sized flour tortillas

Steps

  1. Marinate cooked chicken in honey, lime juice, chili and garlic powders, and salt for 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. In a measuring cup, whisk together enchilada sauce and cream. Pour a thin layer of sauce on the bottom a 9×13″ baking dish.
  4. Assemble enchiladas with chicken and cheese (reserving some cheese for the top). Place seam-side down in the baking dish and top with remaining sauce and cheese.
  5. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 5 minutes until cheese is golden and sauce is bubbly.

*This recipe is adapted from Danelle at http://www.letsdishrecipes.com/2012/04/honey-lime-chicken-enchiladas.html*

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Be prepared for many more Mexican-style recipes in the future!