This is a sponsored post. This post is brought to you by Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® and SheKnows Media.
I want to introduce you to my new favorite salad: Southwestern Chopped Salad, loaded with tons of veggies, juicy and flavorful chicken, and topped off with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing (Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® brand)! It's a salad, side dish, and dinner all in one - depends on how hungry you are! And so easy-to-make - only 30 minutes from start to finish: just chop up all the veggies, cook the chicken in Mexican-style spices, and spice everything up with a delicious dressing! Super flavorful, colorful, healthy, this recipe is packed with fiber (vegetables) and protein (chicken)! And did I say it is gluten free?!
You'll love this salad! What's even better, your kids will love it too, especially when they taste the dressing! What a great and easy way to serve tons of veggies to your kids. We all know that the best and easiest way to take the salad from boring to flavorful is the right dressing! In this recipe I am using Hidden Valley® Buttermilk Ranch - and it's not called America’s Favorite Ranch for nothing! It's delicious, versatile, and makes everything taste better: the vegetables and the chicken! Add the Mexican-style spices, and you'll have one of the most delicious (and healthy!) meals you've ever tried! I love how colorful the vegetables are in this recipe! Colored vegetables are so good for you - they are packed with a variety of essential nutrients.
I love the Buttermilk flavor, and the Original Ranch dressing will work great here too! By the way, did you know that both Hidden Valley® Buttermilk Ranch dressings are gluten free?! It's always a huge plus in my book since I HAVE to follow a gluten free diet. I very much respect the companies that take the time and effort to ensure their products are gluten free and label them as such. It makes life so much easier for us gluten-free folks. One thing less to think about!
Without further ado, let's start cooking! Generously season chicken breast with salt, ground cumin, mildly spicy chili powder, and cook in olive oil on medium heat until the chicken is cooked through:
Chop up all the ingredients:
Mix all the salad ingredients together:
Serve the salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing and add some cumin and chili powder for an extra flavor:
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large chicken breast (about 1 lb), sliced in half horizontally
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder (mild, not overly spicy kind)
- salt, to taste
- 1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 large orange bell pepper, chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup corn from the can, rinsed and drained
- Hidden Valley® Buttermilk Ranch dressing
Instructions
- Generously season the chicken breasts with salt, on both sides. Also, season both sides of chicken breast with ½ teaspoon of ground cumin and ½ teaspoon of chili powder (reserve the remaining 1.5 teaspoon of each cumin and chili powder for later).
- Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat until hot, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil – it should sizzle immediately. Add the chicken breast, and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, on medium-high heat. Remove the skillet from the heat, cover with lid, and let the chicken sit, off heat (it will continue cooking off heat) until the chicken is completely cooked through and no longer pink in the center, about 10-15 minutes. Slice the cooked chicken into stripes or cubes. Set aside.
- Make sure lettuce, bell pepper, tomatoes, avocado, and green onions are all finely chopped. Rinse and drain canned black beans and canned corn. Add all salad ingredients, 1.5 teaspoon of ground cumin, and 1.5 teaspoon of chili powder to a large bowl and toss with the desired amount of Buttermilk Ranch dressing. Taste the salad, and definitely add some salt, to taste. Adding just the right amount of salt at this point will really bring out all the flavors! Top each salad serving with cooked chicken (cubed or sliced into stripes).
SWEEPSTAKES:
What winning salad do you make with Hidden Valley® Original Ranch®? LEAVE A NOTE IN THE COMMENTS FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A $100 VISA GIFT CARD!
Entry Instructions:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 11/23/2015 – 12/30/2015
Be sure to visit Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!
This is a sponsored post. This post is brought to you by Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® and SheKnows Media.
mita
Tweet - https://twitter.com/mitadav/status/681638564002664448
Betty C
Tweet - https://twitter.com/willitara/status/681616797271891968
Betty C
Hidden Valley ranch dressing added to my ordinary pasta salad makes it spectacular.
Denise L
tweeted - https://twitter.com/dmarie824/status/681533579327868928
Denise L
I'd like to make a Cobb Salad using a turkey tenderloin and some bacon and lots of veggies. It's pretty similar to your salad (which looks so delicious, btw).
Emily N.
https://twitter.com/prizepuzzle/status/681283733756903424
Emily N.
Grilled chicken and avocado go great with Ranch on salad.
Barbara M
Tweeted https://twitter.com/JalapenoMama/status/680973754080440320
Barbara M
I always use Hidden Valley Ranch for my cold pasta salad.
People can't get enough of it!
thank you
Toni Emery
Oh my goodness love a cobb salad with ranch dressing. Its to die for...
James Robert
https://twitter.com/mijames82/status/680734979677118464
James Robert
My kids like a macaroni salad with ham, cheese, hard boiled eggs, mayo and ranch in it.
Birdiebee
I would make Colonial Cobb Salad Recipe.
Birdiebee
Tweeted-https://twitter.com/birdiebee52/status/680636542063255552?lang=en
Thomas Murphy
tweeted
https://twitter.com/thomasmurphy40/status/680634073711284224