I shared a salad I was eating on my story one time and got soooo many requests for the honey chipotle dressing that I was using! It's inspired by the chipotle vinaigrette salad dressing at Chipotle! The main components of it are chipotle peppers, red wine vinegar and honey! It's so good, and also really good when mixed with greek yogurt to make a chip dip!!

Feel free to customize this salad with whatever you like. I like doing a mix of romaine lettuce with iceberg and then adding charred corn, black beans, diced red onion, cheese, a few crushed tortilla chips and then a small dollop of greek yogurt. (Also, you don't have to use chicken, you could do ground beef or a vegetarian option!)

The dressing recipe makes a little more than a cup of dressing and it can last in the fridge for 7-10 days. Since the salad portion mainly depends on how much lettuce you use, I'll leave it up to you to eyeball that part. I recommend cooking one piece of chicken per person having a salad!

What you need
For the dressing:

• 3/4 cup neutral oil of choice (I used vegetable)
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 2 garlic cloves

For the salad:

• Chicken - breast or thighs, (one piece per person eating salad)
• Lettuce - I prefer chopped romaine and iceberg
• Corn kernels, either canned of sliced fresh off a cob
• Black beans
• Red onion, diced
• Cheese
• Greek Yogurt

What to do
For the dressing:

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

For the salad:

1. Dice the chicken and season it with a few dashes of cayenne pepper, garlic powder and salt. (I like to add a spoonful or two of the adobo sauce from the peppers used in the dressing, but this is optional.) 
   
2. Let the chicken marinate for at least a half hour or overnight before cooking thoroughly in a skillet.
3. After the chicken is done, cook the corn kernels in the same skillet just to char them a bit.
4. Next, cut up the lettuce and rinse it off with cold water.
5. Assemble the salad with lettuce first, then corn, beans, and red onion. Then add the chicken and cheese and pour the salad dressing over the top. I always finish with a dollop of greek yogurt and then a few crunchy tortilla chips!

I used to love caeser salad growing up but I hit a certain age where my seafood allergy started to get more severe to the point where I would notice even when I consumed even the tiniest amounts of it...aka the small amount of anchovy in caeser salad dressing. There are NO anchovies in this recipe - I know that's not traditional but I gotta do what I gotta do to accommodate my food allergies. I did add caper brine to the dressing though to give it an extra salty, briny flavor.

Homemade croutons are a game changer. First of all, you can make them as big as you want and second of all, since they're homemade you don't have to worry about any additives or preservatives. I discovered Bread Srsly GF Sourdough Bread last year and that's what I used to make the croutons so this recipe doesn't contain any gluten!! I always keep a loaf of their sourdough in my freezer and I loveeee to make croutons and breadcrumbs with it.

What you need
For the breadcrumbs:

• 1/2 loaf sourdough bread
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
• 3-4 tbsp EVOO
• 1/4 tsp salt and black pepper

For the dressing:

• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp caper brine
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano​
• 1 cup mayo or vegan mayo
• 2-3 tbsp water (if using a thicker mayo)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

For the salad:

• 1 large bundle of romaine lettuce
• 1 tbsp capers
• Fresh cracked black peppercorns for topping
• Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano for topping
• Homemade garlic parm croutons

My family has eaten at this old school Italian restaurant by my parent's house called Nino's since as far back as I can remember. I've always loved that they put rotini noodles in their house salad...so much more fun to eat a salad when there's pasta in it, I mean... ;)

This salad is inspired by the Nino's salad, but it's a little lighter. I used turkey pepperoni and brown rice rotini instead of regular pasta. (Note: if you use brown rice pasta, don't put it in the fridge, the texture hardens once it gets cold and that would ruin the salad.) Another thing, the dressing that Nino's uses is super rich, almost too rich where the amount of vinegar and oil can be rough on a sensitive stomach so I decided to pair my version of their salad with a much lighter vinaigrette.

This recipe makes enough for 2 large salads or 4 side salads. (Since the size mainly depends on how much lettuce you chop up, it's very easy to eyeball and change the proportions to how large or small you want it.) The salad dressing can last for 7-10 days in the fridge.

What you need:​
For the dressing:

• 1 grated garlic clove
• 2 tbsp of an Italian herb blend. You can use equal parts of you're fave fresh herbs like parsley, oregano, and rosemary or my fave shortcut is to use pre mixed and dried herb blend from a jar of Alessi dipping spices for olive oil.
• 1/3 cup high quality EVOO (my fave is Jovial Foods - nothing compares)
• 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• Optional: adding 1 tbsp of very finely shredded parmesan cheese

For the salad:

• Two handfuls of rotini pasta, that's right, we're measuring it out like a little old Italian grandma would. If you have leftover, you can save it and eat it as pasta salad!! (The point is to have like 10-15 rotini noodles in the salad you eat, not a ton.)
• One bundle of romaine lettuce (sometimes I do a mix of romaine and iceberg or a spring mix - this recipe will work with whatever leafy greens you have a home!)
• 1/2 cup diced cucumber
• 1/2 cup diced pepperoni
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 1/2 cup thick shredded mozzarella cheese (I love Sargento)