Southwest Chicken Chopped Salad

I eat salads like all the time.  I think I've mentioned this before but I usually have a pretty big appetite, and I've found that I can get a lot more bang for my caloric buck if most of it is vegetables.  Besides, the health benefits of eating veggies are endless (high water content, lots of fiber, antioxidants, low calorie, blah blah blah).  There are really an endless combination of salads, and this is one of our new favorites.

The dressing is "homemade", requiring some Greek yogurt (you could use sour cream here too I bet) and some dry ranch dressing mix and taco seasoning to create a zesty ranch-ish flavor.  The cilantro mixed in the salad adds really great flavor, and the beans add nice protein in addition to the grilled chicken breast (you could add more beans and take out the chicken for a Meatless Monday recipe!)

I served these with quesadillas (and wine, of course)

Southwest Chicken Chopped Salad
Makes 4 large salads

1 lb baked or grilled chicken breast, sliced
1 red pepper, diced
4 green onions, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup corn
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 head iceberg lettuce, cored and chopped
1 avocado, diced
Tortilla chips

Dressing
1 cup greek yogurt
1 Tbsp ranch dressing mix
1 Tbsp taco seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
Splash of milk to thin it out, if desired

Combine ingredients for dressing; set aside.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken and tortilla chips.  Toss with enough dressing to coat (start light, you can add more as needed).  Divide onto serving plates, top with chicken and tortilla chips.

**To make 2 servings, only chop up half the head of iceberg lettuce.  Combine pepper, green onions, black beans, corn, tomatoes, and cilantro in a large bowl.  Add half of this mixture to the lettuce and toss with about half the dressing. You can refrigerate the corn/bean mixture and make another salad at a later time :)