Chicken Taco Salad

Me encanta tacos! Tacos are the best! But to make it "seem" healthier I love me some tacos....on a salad. Halfway through the winter months I'm getting that appetite for salads, and fewer heavy meals. Specifically I've been craving a taco salad. And my go to taco salad is a Pioneer Woman recipe, no surprise there.

I made it previous to her cookbook release, but after receiving it as a Christmas gift I knew this was the opportunity to make it again.  If this sounds like something you'd appreciate too for dinnertime, I'd suggest Ree Drummond's Dinnertime Cookbook, which is chalk full of good dinner recipes.

Whether you're like me and want a taco salad in the dead of winter, or want to store it away for the summer months, keep this!

Ingredients:
Chicken
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp taco seasoning
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Dressing
3/4 cup ranch dressing
1/4 cup salsa
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
Salad
2 ears fresh corn, cleaned
1 large head lettuce, shredded
3 roma tomatoes diced
1/2 cup grated pepper jack cheese
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
tortilla chips, crushed
3 green onions, sliced

Directions:

1) First make the dressing by combining the three ingredients together, and store in refrigerator.

2) For the chicken, season the breasts, heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook on both sides until brown, which is approximately 4 minutes per side. Remove and cool for 10 minutes, then cut into pieces for salad.

3) Grill the corn cobs in the still heated skillet, then slice off kernels. Can also use freezer corn and grill it in the skillet, I thought it was still incredibly tasty.

4) Assemble the salad: on a bed of shredded lettuce add the chicken, tomatoes, cheese, corn, avocado, green onions, cilantro and chips. Drizzle the dressing on top, reserving some for additional use.

Other great salads to whet your salad appetite on the blog:
Strawberry Chicken Salad
Watermelon Arugula Salad 
Broccoli Salad 
Pioneer Pasta Salad
Buffalo Chicken Salad
Avocado Corn Salad