Summer Chicken Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing

 Half-baked Harvest does it again.  P made this for Mother's Day and it was delicious.  The hot bacon dressing was incredible.  The roasted peppers were fine but not essential.

Author: Tieghan Gerard

Prep Time20minutes minutes

Cook Time10minutes minutes

Total Time30minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Calories Per Serving: 550 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

Dressing

• ▢6 thick-cut slices of bacon, chopped
• ▢1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ▢1 shallot, thinly sliced
• ▢1-2 cloves garlic, grated
• ▢3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• ▢1 tablespoon fig preserves
• ▢1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• ▢chili flakes
• ▢kosher salt and pepper

Salad

• ▢1 cup torn ciabatta bread
• ▢1 clove garlic, grated
• ▢6 cups mixed salad greens
• ▢2 cups grilled chicken, cubed or shredded
• ▢1-2 roasted/grilled bell peppers, sliced
• ▢3 ears grilled corn, kernels removed from the cob
• ▢2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• ▢1 avocado, sliced
• ▢1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or feta cheese

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• 1. To make the dressing. Combine all ingredients except the bacon in a glass jar and whisk until smooth.

  2. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Drain onto a paper towel. Stir the bacon into the dressing.

  3. To make the croutons. Heat the same skillet used to cook the bacon over medium heat. Add the bread and toss in the bacon grease. If needed add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook until toasted, 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, then remove from the heat and season with salt.

  4. To assemble the salad. In a large salad bowl, combine the greens, chicken, peppers, corn, tomatoes, avocado, cheese, and croutons. Toss well with the dressing. Enjoy!

Notes

Herb Grilled Chicken: In a large bowl, toss 1 pound of chicken tenders with 3 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons grainy dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1/3 cup chopped fresh herbs, kosher salt and black pepper. Set your grill, grill pan, or skillet to medium-high heat. Grill the chicken until lightly charred and cooked through, turning halfway through cooking, about 10 to 12 minutes. 

Floor Salad (Grilled Corn and Tomato-Sweet Onion Salad with Fresh Basil Dressing and Crumbled Blue Cheese)

This is a Bobby Flay recipe I made for a large dinner party.  I doubled the recipe and was running late.  For the finishing touches, I was slicing all the corn off the cob into the salad and I ended up flipping the bowl.  A HUGE bowl of salad I had worked on all on the floor!  Jessica and I looked at each other, shocked, and then she yells "TEN SECONDS!"  We dove to the floor and rescued everything except for the bottom layer.  We didn't tell any of the people at the party, naturally.  But it was so delicious, floor or not, I ate seconds.  (And that's the last time anyone ever eats my food).  I think this works really well for a summer BBQ.  It is nice on the side of a brisket or a pulled pork.

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves 1 teaspoon sugar Salt Freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 8 ears corn, grilled in the husk, kernels removed 1 sweet onion (such as Vidalia or Walla Walla), halved and thinly sliced 1 pint Sweet 100 tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved 8 ounces blue cheese, crumbled Fresh basil sprigs, for garnish Combine the vinegar, basil, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and oil in a blender and blend until smooth. Can be made 2 hours in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before using.Combine the corn kernels, onion and tomato in a large bowl. Add the dressing and toss to coat, season with salt and pepper. Let sit at room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Top with crumbled blue cheese and garnish with basil sprigs just before serving. Salad can be made 1 day in advance and served cold or at room temperature.

(Maret's note:  I serve this over spinach, even though they intended for it to be eaten alone).  The salad goes a lot further when it's a topping/dressing on a lettuce salad rather than a corn side salad.  Delicious either way.