Mediterranean Chopped Salad With Shrimp and Chickpeas

We eat a lot of salads but sometimes chopping up all those veggies is so time consuming an such a pain. So I decided to find a recipe that combined everything into a nice little salad. And while I was reading this recipe, there was a little note along the bottom that said the spiced pita chips would go nicely with the salad. So since I needed pita chips for the salad recipe anyway, I decided to make those too (recipe also below).

1/2 head Romaine lettuce, cut crosswise into thin strips (8 cups)

1 lb. cooked, peeled and deveined medium shrimp

1/2 English cucumber, chopped

1 15.5-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed

1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped

3/4 cup Feta cheese (about 3 oz.)

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved

2 cups pita chips, broken into pieces

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

kosher salt and black pepper

In a large bowl, add the lettuce, shrimp, cucumber, chickpeas, onion, Feta, olives and pita chips to the oil and vinegar. Add 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper, and toss.

Spiced Pita Chips

4 pitas (I used the mini round pitas and cut them in half)

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Heat the broiler. Split the pitas to make 8 rounds and brush them with the oil. Sprinkle with the paprika, oregano and salt. Slice the pitas into triangles. Arrange on 2 baking sheets and broil until crisp, about 2 minutes.

Turkey Taco Salad

Yesterday I had the day off work. It wasn't as joyful as it sounds as I had a dentist appointment in the morning, but I digress.

I took some ground turkey out for dinner but had no idea what to do with it. So as usual, I took to the Internet to help me with my dinner challenge. I came across this easy salad recipe and decided it was the one. It made quite the tasty lunch the next day too!

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 lb. ground turkey

kosher salt and pepper

1 16-oz. container store-bought refrigerated fresh salsa

2 tbsp. sour cream

1 head romaine lettuce, cut into pieces (about 8 cups)

tortilla chips

1 15.5-oz. can pinto beans, rinsed

1 avocado, diced

1 cup grated Cheddar

1 6-oz. can sliced black olives (optional)

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turkey with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Cook, breaking up with a spoon, until no longer pink, 5-6 minutes. Pour off any excess liquid. Stir in half the salsa and cook until heat through, about 1 minute.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining salsa and sour cream.

Divide the lettuce, chips, turkey mixture, beans, avocado, Cheddar, and olives (if using) among bowls. Serve with the salsa-and-sour-cream dressing.

Grilled Chicken Salad

I love this salad! It's basically just a massive amount of veggies on top of some lettuce with a grilled chicken breast on top, but it's fantastic! Oh and use whatever dressing you want. I think I went with Raspberry Vinaigrette this time.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
smoked paprika
salt & pepper
lettuce of your choice - we used Romaine and Spinach
2 slices American cheese
2 slices provolone cheese
2 hard boiled eggs
veggies
dressing

Coat the chicken breasts with salt & pepper and smoked paprika and grill; let sit 5 minutes then slice. Arrange the lettuce on 2 plates. Place 1 slice of the American cheese and 1 slice of the provolone cheese in the middle of each plate of lettuce; place warm chicken breast on top of cheese so it begins to melt. Then add the sliced hard boiled egg and veggies of your choice. We had carrots, cucumber, beets and bell peppers. Top with dressing of your choice.

Cool Southwestern Salad with Corn and Avocado

I found this recipe in my Real Simple magazine. I made a few slight variations, but for the most part, left it the same. All I had were northern beans which probably weren't the best choice to use since they tend to mush up more easily than pinto beans, but oh well...it's all I had on hand. My picture doesn't look as tasty as the picture from the magazine, but I'm sure the taste was the same :o)

2 small heads romaine lettuce, cut into bite-size pieces (about 12 cups)

1 15-ounce can northern beans, drained and rinsed

2 ears corn, kernels cut off the cob (about 1 cup)

2 avocados, chopped

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

Kosher salt and pepper

1/2 9-ounce bag tortilla chips

In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, beans, corn, avocados, onion, and parsley. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lime juice, cumin, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Drizzle over the salad and toss. Serve with the tortilla chips.

Here's what mine looked like...

...and the picture from the magazine