BBQ Chicken Salad with Cilantro Lime Ranch

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup BBQ sauce, homemade or store bought
• 1 large head, 18 oz Romaine lettuce, chopped
• 3 medium Roma tomatoes
• 1 – 2 avocados, diced
• 1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen corn
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 – 1 1/2 cups cheese
• Corn tortilla stips
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp buttermilk ranch seasoning mix
• 1/3 cup cilantro, about a handful
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 – 3 pinches cayenne pepper, optional

Directions

1. Heat a grill to medium-high. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Lightly coat the grates with canola or vegetable oil, then add the chicken. Grill it, turning once midway, and brush both sides with BBQ sauce in the final minute or two. The chicken may take about 4 minutes per side, though the exact timing depends on the thickness of the chicken and the heat of your grill. Move the chicken to a plate, tent it with foil, and rest it for 5 – 10 minutes before cutting it into small strips.
2. Arrange the rest of the salad ingredients in large salad bowls, starting with the lettuce; after that, the layering can be as casual as you like. Finish each salad with Cilantro Lime Ranch.
3. For the dressing, add all of the dressing ingredients to a blender and blend until the cilantro is chopped very finely.
4. For homemade corn tortilla strips, cut 6 6-inch corn tortillas into strips, then cut each strip in half. Fry them in about 1-inch of hot canola oil in a skillet, using vegetable oil if you prefer, and turn them once with metal tongs as they cook. When they are just starting to turn golden, transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate and salt them right away. Store bought tortilla strips are fine if you would rather skip this step.