Chopped Chicken Salad with Cafe Rio Salad Dressing

Step 1

If you don’t have leftover rotisserie chicken, bring a small saucepan of water to a low boil while you trim visible fat from the chicken breasts and cut them in half (for quicker cooking). When the water is barely boiling, add trimmed chicken breast pieces and cook on lowest possible heat about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is firm and cooked through. Drain and let chicken cool.

Step 2

Put the beans into a colander placed in the sink and rinse well with cold water (until no more foam appears.) Let beans drain while you prep other ingredients. (If they still seem wet when you need to use them, pat dry with paper towels.)

Step 3

Dice cooled chicken into bite-sized pieces. Put in a small bowl and toss with about 4 tablespoons Cafe Rio Salad Dressing.

Step 4

Cut ends of romaine heads and remove any spoiled outer leaves. Chop lettuce into bite sized pieces, wash with cold water in a salad spinner (affiliate link), and spin dry (or wash and dry with paper towels if you don’t have a salad spinner.)

Step 5

Cut up avocados, place in a bowl, and toss with the lime juice.

Step 6

Cut cherry tomatoes in half.

Step 7

Chop cilantro, wash in salad spinner, and spin dry or dry with paper towels.

Step 8

Put the lettuce, black beans, tomatoes, and cilantro in a large salad bowl and toss with enough dressing to moisten all the ingredients.

Step 9

Add the marinated chicken and toss to combine. Divide into four bowls and top each with a generous amount of diced avocado.

Step 10

Serve right away.

Step 11

To make this salad ahead for Weekend Food Prep, I would mix dressing, cook the chicken and dice into pieces, drain and rinse beans, chop romaine, and chop cilantro. Store chicken in fridge with a small amount of dressing. Store black beans in a snap-tight container. Store the chopped and washed lettuce and cilantro together in a Ziploc bag. Store dressing in a container for the fridge. When you're reading to eat the salad later, chop avocado and tomatoes and assemble salad as above.