For years, a favorite hang-out of mine has been California Pizza Kitchen. You know those restaurants, that you’re sure have lots of great food, but you can’t bring yourself to order anything but your usual selection?
For me, that’s the BBQ chopped chicken salad at California Pizza Kitchen (CPK for the cool kids). It was always a mystery how they made such a great salad. Until one day, I asked the waitress for some additional dressing, and she said “do you want to ranch that’s normally on it, or a different dressing?” I felt the skys part, and Jesus rays hit me from above … the complex, amazing goodness on my plate was just salad with ranch dressing??? Thank you Mrs. waitress, you allowed this recipe to happen.
Often, when I have a large crowd coming, I’ll make a huge batch of this salad. People love it, and it’s really easy to make in large quantities. When I make it for my family, I’ll do a smaller version and only dress the amount we want for dinner, then the leftovers stay crisp and are great for lunch the next day.
Amounts on the ingredients in this salad are up to your interpretation. No measuring necessary – just add your preferred amounts of everything. I tried to give general amounts, just to give a starting place, but tailor this salad to your liking!
BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad
1 head Lettuce, chopped (romaine, iceberg are both good – even great mixed)
3-4 green onions, minced
1/2 container fresh basil, chopped (approx. 10 large basil leaves)
1/4 jicima*, chopped
black beans (I usually use about 1/2 a can, drained and rinsed)
White shoepeg corn (again, usually use about 1/2 a can, drained and rinsed)
shredded montery jack cheese (approx. 1/2 cup)
crushed tortilla chips
Ranch Dressing (I like Marie’s from the produce section)
1 Avocado, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 lime wedged – to garnish and serve with salad
2 Grilled chicken breasts, chopped and coated with BBQ sauce (any brand, like KC Masterpiece)
In a large salad bowl, toss lettuce, green onions, basil, jicima, beans, corn, chips, cheese and dressing. It’s pretty if you transfer to a large platter to serve. I usually edge the platter with the chopped tomatoes and top with chicken and avocado (just like they do at CPK). Then serve lime wedges along side.
* A few notes on jicima. If you live somewhere that has never heard of it (Jayne), just leave it out, no big deal. Also, if the store only has jicimas that are huge, you can ask the grocer to cut it in half for you. They do it all the time. And then you’re only paying for what you need.
I shot a quick video last night, that might or might not be helpful to you. Literally, my 2 year old was running the camera (or sitting by it – able to push random buttons at any time), he kept asking for chips and saying “oh” as I explain to you what a jicima is. Much like my other video (and possibly all going forward) this might be entertaining at best and hopefully give you a chuckle.
The finished salad – so yummy!
by tani
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