Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Barbeque Chicken Salad with Honey Lime Dressing


This salad is full of great flavors that really work together.  Both Landon and I really thought it was tasty.  I got the idea for the dressing from this blog (at least I'm pretty sure that's where it came from) but changed it up a bit to satisfy my tastes.  With that said, feel free to play around with it so that you love it!  I didn't top ours with crispy bacon but I am certain it would be delicious, so I have included it in my recipe.  Also, a little bit of blue cheese crumbled on top could be great as well.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Barbeque Chicken Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

Dressing
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
zest of 1 lime
1 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 tsp. honey
1/3 cup mayonnaise (I use mayo with olive oil)
1 Tbs. olive oil or canola oil
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

Salad

2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 cup corn
2 scallions, chopped
4 cups spinach or other leafy greens
1 chicken breast, baked or grilled, cut, and then smothered with BBQ sauce (I used spicy BBQ sauce)
2 slices of bacon, crumbled (optional)
1/4 cup blue cheese (optional)


Whisk all dressing ingredients together and set aside.  In a small bowl, add tomatoes, corn, and scallions.  Toss the tomato mixture with some of the dressing to coat (a couple Tbs. or so).  
Assemble the salad in a large bowl by layering the greens, tomato mixture, and chicken.  Top with bacon and cheese if using.  Top with extra dressing if desired.  I didn't really think it needed much more, but that's just me.  You can make extra dressing if you plan to serve it on the side.  Serve and enjoy!

Monday, May 16, 2011

#11. Run a Half Marathon

I finally sat down last week and found a half marathon race I plan to run.  I haven't signed up yet because I want to see how the first couple of weeks of training go.  It is on August 13 and the place to catch the bus for the race is right by my house.  It should work perfectly.

I'm so excited.  I'm looking forward to incorporating more speed and endurance training into my workouts (as opposed to just going out to run for 30 minutes).  Training with my baby will be interesting but very doable.  She loves going for runs and if I need to, I can go to the track once she has gone to bed to do speed training since it stays light so long these days.  It seems like the perfect time to do this and I'm crossing my fingers I don't get injured along the way.

I want to see how my training goes, but right now I want to shoot for finishing in right at about 2 hours.  My first and only other half time was 1:51 and some seconds, but I was in pretty good shape and had a while to train for it.  I'm not trying to set a PR (personal record) or anything like that, I just want to have something to shoot for and do well.

So I guess that is my major summer plan!  Anyone else training for anything this summer?

I couldn't find the pictures from my previous half marathon, but here's one from the marathon I did.  Hopefully I will be smiling at the end of my race in August!