BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad

We are loving quinoa at our house especially in light of our latest gluten free adventure.  Quinoa is a nice alternative to rice and is so much better for you.  It’s protein!  I love how versatile it is too. It pretty much picks up the flavor of whatever you add to it.

Remember this Coconut Lime Rice Quinoa with a nice Asian  flavor to it – so good!  We also loved this Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa.  Quinoa works great as a side dish but it can easily work as a main dish too.  Especially when  you add a little more protein into it with some chicken like today’s BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad.

One of my favorite salads I get at California Pizza Kitchen is their BBQ Chicken Salad.  Today’s recipe reminds me of that salad but it is on a bed of quinoa rather than lettuce.

This salad is a yummy combination of  tomato, black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado, cheddar cheese, chicken and a dressing made of BBQ sauce and Greek Yogurt. Pretty darn healthy!

This is a great dish to make when you ever leftover rotisserie chicken which helps it come together quickly and easily. So nice when clean eating can be pretty & delicious!

AuthorLeigh Anne Wilkes

Ingredients

• 1 C quinoa rinsed
• 2 C chicken broth
• 1 1/2 C shredded chicken
• 1 C corn kernels
• 1/2 C black beans drained and rinsed
• 1/4 C chopped cilantro
• 1/2 C shredded medium cheddar cheese
• 1 avocado diced
• 1/4 C plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 C BBQ Sauce plus extra to coat chicken

Instructions

• Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh sieve under cold water.
• Combine with chicken broth in a pan and bring to a boil. Cover with lid and lower temperature and cook until quinoa is tender. About 15-20 minutes.
• Shred chicken. Coat in BBQ sauce.
• Mix together yogurt and 1/4 BBQ sauce.
• Place quinoa in bowl. Top with chicken, corn black beans, avocado, cheese.
• Top with yogurt/BBQ dressing.
• Garnish with cilantro

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Easter Carton Printables

It’s time this week for  a fun printable from Mique over at 30 Handmade Days!  I call her the Printable  Queen!  Here’s Mique…

Spring is finally upon us and I’m ready for flowers and kites and all that fun stuff. I can’t help but get excited about the weather and activities to do with my family. Are you with me on that? I get excited about making printables and gifts too. Today I’m sharing a fun little treat idea to give to the teachers/friends/neighbors in your life. Or anyone really!

When I was at Target recently I saw several cartons for variations of egg candy- bubble gum, Reese’s and Whoppers. I snatched them up and knew I could turn them into something cute. So I got to work designing little wrappers to add to them: I can’t help but use a pun when it presents itself and these eggs were no different. Next time you’re out, pick up some and print out these cute wrappers. Cut them out and then tape them together. Easy as 1 -2- 3! Download a sheet of carton wrappers. For personal use only.

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Pomegranate Pork Tenderloin Salad

We were teased with a beautiful 70 degree day in Portland yesterday. Of course it’s back to rainy and overcast today but it was enough to really get me in the mood for some outdoor cooking and firing up the grill! The nicer weather also puts me in the mood for a yummy salad. So today I’ve taken both of those cravings and combined them into one with a Pomegranate Pork Tenderloin Salad.

One of our favorite things to cook on the grill is marinated pork tenderloin. The quickest and easiest way to marinade a pork tenderloin is with an oil based salad dressing. Hidden Valley has a delicious Pomegranate Viniagrette Dressing which makes a perfect marinade for the pork. It is flavorful and just a tad bit sweet which is nice.

All I did was place my pork tenderloin into a large zippered plastic bag and pour in about 1 cup of the dressing, enough to coat the meat. I then put it in the refrigerator and let it marinade over night. When you’re ready for dinner just pop the meat on the grill!

For the salad part I used a mix of spring greens, romaine and baby spinach and then topped it with all kinds of yumminess: roasted asparagus, sugared walnuts, mushrooms, raspberries, green onions and gorgonzola cheese.

Added all of that in and then topped it with the sliced pork tenderloin that I had marinated in the Hidden Valley Pomegranate Vinaigrette Dressing. Then the final touch is more of the delicious Pomegranate Vinaigrette Dressing.

For the roasted asparagus I just lightly coded the asparagus with olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt and then put it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes. You want it to just be barely fork tender. Don’t over cook it. Allow it to cool and then cut into pieces.

This salad was delicious! Not only was it delicious it was also so pretty!!

My husband loved it and took the leftovers for lunch the next day.

AuthorLeigh Anne Wilkes

Ingredients

• 2 lb. pork tenderloin
• Hidden Valley Pomegranate Vinaigrette Dressing
• romaine spring mix and baby spinach
• 1 C fresh raspberries
• 1 C sliced mushrooms
• 4-5 stalks roasted asparagus cut into pieces
• 1/2 C sugared walnuts
• 1/4 C chopped green onion
• 1/3 C Gorgonzola Cheese

Instructions

• Marinade pork overnight in 1 C of dressing.
• Grill pork, allow to cool and slice
• Combine lettuce and spinach in a bowl.
• Top with raspberries, mushrooms, asparagus, walnuts, green onion and cheese
• Top with sliced pork tenderloin
• Add more dressing

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