. . . BBQ Chicken Salad and Ramen Noodle Crunchies. . .

It has been a long time since I posted on my blog!  I got out of the habit of doing much of it this summer and haven't gotten back in the swing of things but this salad was good enough that I knew I had to blog about it!  

I get salads at restaurants all the time for my main meal but for some reason I tend to not make them at home that often and I don't know why because they are so simple and very filling!  I make them as a side dish but hardly ever for our main course.  This salad changed that and will for sure have it on repeat!

I know that it looks like there are a lot of ingredients but it's basically just salad toppings.  There is very little to prepare other than your chicken, corn on the cob and the ramen noodle crunchies.  All those things are very easy and can be done in advance and kept in the fridge until you are ready to use them. 

 You will need:

Chicken Breast or Chicken Tenders, frozen or fresh but make sure they are defrosted

BBQ Sauce

Raspberry Vinagarette

1 package Ramen Noodles Chicken Flavor

4 Tbls. Butter

Corn on the cob

Fresh Mushrooms

Frozen Peas

Cucumber

Bacon, chopped

Tomato

Onion 

Hard boiled eggs, chopped

Lettuce

Cheese of your choice

Dressing of your choice

*I highly recommend Sweet Vidalia Onion, Ranch or Raspberry Vinagarette

 To make your Ramen Noodle "croutons":

Break up the dry ramen noodles into fine pieces.  Lay out on a baking dish and sprinkle the seasoning packet over them.  You can also add in some chopped pecans or almonds to this. Cut butter into small pieces and drop around the baking dish.  Bake on 350 for until they are golden brown and crunchy and the butter is all melted.  Stir them up so that all the noodles are coated in the seasoning.  Let cool so you can add them to your salad for a nice crunch and added flavor.  Yummy!

 To make the Chicken:

Mix BBQ Sauce and Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing together in a bowl.  Pour over your Chicken Breasts/Tenders and let it marinate overnight or all day.  If you don't have time to do that it's ok it will still flavor the chicken when you bake it or grill it.  I don't have exact measurements on the BBQ Sauce and Raspberry Vinaigrette because it would depend on the amount of chicken you are using.  You will want more BBQ Sauce than Vinaigrette.  The Raspberry flavor is just to add a zing so don't overwhelm it with a large amount of dressing.  

Put the chicken in a baking dish and cover with your sauce from the marinade.  Bake the chicken on 400 until it is cooked through.  You can also grill the chicken which adds to the flavor.  Brush the sauce on it as you grill to keep it moist and flavorful.

Prepare your corn on the cob as you normally would--microwave, grill or stovetop in boiling water.  Once it is cooked through let it cool so you can take the corn off the cob without burning yourself. 

Defrost your frozen peas in a bowl of cold water.  Chop all your other veggies to prepare for the salad.  Crumble your bacon.

 To make the salad:

Place the lettuce in bowls and then add all of your toppings.  For ours  I just put all the toppings in bowls and let everyone create their own salad.  Top with Sweet Vidalia Onion Dressing or Raspberry Vinaigrette.  You could also use Ranch or even Honey Mustard but I can only speak for the first two because that is what we have used on ours.  I buy the Ken's Brand for most of our dressings. 

Dig in and enjoy this delicious salad!  I was shocked that even our son gobbles this salad up and he says he doesn't like salad so that is saying something!