It’s the season of summer BBQ’s, picnics and beach/lake meals.
While I love a great backyard BBQ – I’m seriously tired of the heat. That is why I love making great food that is cool and refreshing.
Today on the blog – we are making an easy chicken spinach salad. Light, healthy and yummy.
This recipe can be made with or without YOU doing any cooking – just depends on how you want to do it.
INGREDIENTS
Cubed cooked chicken
Mayonnaise
Spinach (15 ounces raw) – [you could use frozen chopped spinach]
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Hidden Valley Ranch season packet (¼ of packet)
For the chicken – I cut up 2 rotisserie chickens from our local grocery store.
You could cook your own chicken and cube it.
Or you can even buy rotisserie chicken already cooked, and cut up.
It’s totally up to you.
For the spinach – I bought two 10 ounce baby spinach containers of fresh spinach. I then cut/pinched off the long excessive stems.
I sauteed the spinach in some butter (and salt and pepper) until the leaves wilted.
Then placed the cooked spinach on a plate with paper towels (to soak up the excess liquids).
[If you are not interested in this part of the process – you could use frozen chopped spinach.]
Chop up the spinach into small bites before adding to the chicken.
While the spinach is cooling – season the cut up chicken with salt and pepper to taste and about ¼ of a ranch packet (be careful not to use too much because the packet is pretty salty). Start by adding two heaping spoonfuls of your favorite mayonnaise (you can always add more – but you can’t take away).
Add the chopped and cooled spinach to the mixture and stir. After it is mixed together – taste test it to see if you need/want more mayonnaise or seasonings. Add more slowly until it is perfect for your tastes.
Believe it or not – it’s done!
You can serve on bread… or low-carb it with just a bowl & fork – or even in a lettuce wrap.
You can also make it your “own” by adding other ingredients like:
Almond slices
Celery
Substitute avocado instead of mayonnaise
This recipe is intended for a larger group of people maybe 8-12. You can half the recipe for a smaller family meal.
Here are some other great summer recipes:
