Salads

These are some of my favorite salad recipes. I will post the recipe for the Cafe Rio Salad in a day or two, until then, try these!

Jerk Chickan Salad
1 tbs. Garlic oil (or olive oil)
1 tbs. Jerk Seasoning
1 lb. chicken tenders
1 medium pineapple
1 red bell pepper
3 green onions
2 heads romain lettuce
1 can black beans, drained
6 slices bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
2 limes
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tbs. pineapple preserves

Whisk oil and seasoning. Add tenders; mix well to coat. Peel pineapple, cut in 1/4 inch slices. Cook chicken over medium heat 3-5 minutes on each side. Add pineapple to pan, cook 1 minute on each side. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Set aside. Slice bell pepper, green onions. Arrange 12 lettuce leaves on platter. Chop remaining lettuce. For ressing, zest one lime . Juice both limes. Add lime zest, may and pinaplle preserves. Mix well. Layer chopped lettuce, beans, bell pepper, chickn, pineapple, backon and green onions over each lettuce leaf. Drizzle dressing over salad.

Thai Chicken Stir-Fry Salad
Dressing
1 1-inch piece peeled fresh gingerroot
3/4 cup creamy poppy seed salad dressing
2 garlic cloves, pressed
Salad
1 medium cucumber
1 small red bell pepper
1 package fresh baby spinach
1 package broccoli slaw mix
Chicken Mixture
1/4 cup snipped fresh basil
1/4 cup peanuts
1 lb chicken breasts

Chop gingerrood. Combine ginerroot, salad dressing and garlic. Whisk until blended and set aside. Score cucumber lengthwise, thinly slice cucumber and bell pepper, cut cucumber slices in half. Place spinach, slaw mix, cucumber and pepper in bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Snip basil and chop peanuts. Flatten chicken and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Lightly spray skilley, heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes. Add chicken to hot skillet and cook without stirring, about 2 minutes. Stir-fry 2-3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink; remove from heat. Add basil, peanuts, and 1/4 cup of the dressing to skillet. Toss to coat. To serve, toss salad with remaining dressing; top with chicken mixture and serve immediately.

BBQ Pork (or Chicken) Salad
1 pork tenderloin
1 tbs. vegetable oil
2 tbs BBQ rub
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1 tsp. BBQ rub
1 package lettuce (I like romain, but you can use iceberg if you like)
2 cups cole slaw miz
1 purple onion
1 cup thawed frozen corn

Brush tenderloin with oil and rub with BBQ rub. Bake until thermometer reaches 150. (for chicken temperature needs to be 170). Combine all ingredients.

Chicken Avocado & Grapefruit Salad
Chicken
1 lb. chicken breasts
1 tbsp Citrus Rub (from Pampered Chef)
1 tsp olive oil
Dressing and Salad
1 large ruby red grapefruit
1 tbsp orange marmalade
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4-6 radishes
1 firm, ripe avocado
1 bag fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup sliced red onion

For chicken, combine ingredients. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes. Turn chicken over and cook another 4- minutes. Let chicken stand on cutting board 10 minutes. For dressing, zest grapefruit, cut in half and juice 1/4 cup juice. Combine zest, juice, marmalade, oil, salt and pepper. Mix well. For salad, slice radished. Peel and dice avocado. Slice chicken crosswise into thin strips. Place spinach in bowl. Top with chicken, radishes, avocado and onion. Pour dressing over salad. Serve immediately.

*All these salad recipes came from The Pampered Chef, Season's Best cook books.