Barbecue Chicken Salad

Although I haven’t written about it often, I am indeed on a budget when I go to the grocery store.  I’ve found that to stick to my budget I can only pay cash and I spend $100 to feed our family for the week.  That covers all our household supplies like toiletries in addition to 3 meals a day for my family.  What I’ve realized about grocery budgets is that no 1 option works for every family.  We eat very little processed food and I try my best to provide as much produce as possible.  It seems that the easiest place to trim our budget is in meat.  While I’d love to exist on steak and pork tenderloin, that’s just not practical for my budget.  I typically do my shopping at Target and I’ve found that they regularly mark their meat down when it’s about to expire.  I use these opportunities to stock the freezer but buying the “sale meat” sometimes requires that I get a little creative.

My most recent bargain was several packages of chicken drumsticks.  While usually only $2.99 for a package of 4-6, the $2 off coupon made these only $0.99 a package.  This was a great deal but I don’t typically cook with drumsticks.  On a hectic weekday, I threw the drumsticks in the crock-pot on low for 6 hours.  I sprinkled them with 2 tsp. cayenne pepper, 2 Tbsp of honey and 1 bottle of barbeque sauce.  I usually use the Original Sweet Baby Ray’s but on this night I tried the Honey Chipotle version.  It was delicious!  Had the kids not been eating these with us I would have upped the spices but since they were I wanted to make sure they weren’t too spicy.  Once cooked, the meat fell off the bone so I simply chopped it in bite sized pieces.

I decided to use this chicken to make a barbecue chicken salad.  The salad was so flavorful that we didn’t even need dressing on it.  If you need additional flavor, your favorite salsa would make a great dressing.  You could also add any other taco toppings you like, such as black olives or diced avocado.  This salad was hearty and satisfying.  It came together in less than a half hour and was a perfect meal for a busy weeknight.  My whole family devoured it, which I always think is a sign of a successful recipe.

 

Barbecue Chicken Salad

1 1/2 cups frozen corn

1 Tbsp Butter

1 Head Romaine Lettuce, chopped

2 cups cooked chicken

1/2 can of black beans

1/4 cup shredded Mexican Cheese blend

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Add corn and stir until it forms a single layer on the bottom of the pan.  Let corn heat through.  While that’s cooking, chop your romaine lettuce and divide between 2 plates.

Add your beans to the skillet and continue to stir until both the corn and beans are heated through.  Spoon corn mixture on top of lettuce.  Add chopped chicken as well.  Garnish with cheese.  Enjoy!