Joey's Chopped Salad

This is my favorite salad (there's nothing healthy about it, though).

Any salad that combines blue cheese and Fritos is my kind of salad. Seriously, though, this is a really tasty salad. The recipe was posted in the Journal Sentinel several years ago, and I was super happy when I saw it! It's from Joey Buona's Pizzeria Grille, and the chef, Roger Ruzek, sent in the recipe (in case you get excited about those kinds of details).

I make the vinaigrette from time to time without doing the fancy salad, since it's really tasty on a plain side salad, too. I made it for Christmas one year for a big family-style dinner for 14 or so, and something weird happened when it was refrigerated, and it looked like gravy - it would have been funny, but it totally stressed me out, and then I didn't have a cruet, so it got spooned out of a bowl and TOTALLY looked like gravy. I almost cried.

Joey Buona's Chopped Salad

2 tablespoons diced prosciutto
8 cups romaine and iceberg lettuce blend, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
2 grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
1/4 cup diced tomato
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup sliced black olives (any kind)
1/4 cup carrots (sliced in coins, then halved)
1/4 cup diced and seeded cucumbers
1/4 cup crumbled corn chips
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup red wine vinaigrette (see recipe)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place prosciutto on a cookie sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. To make salad, combine all remaining ingredients except vinaigrette in a large bowl. Add vinaigrette and mix well. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

Red Wine Vinaigrette

1 green onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly chopped garlic
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place onion, garlic, honey and vinegar in a blender. Start mixing on highest speed. Very slowly add the olive oil into the blender to emulsify. If oil is added too quickly, ingredients will not combine. After all the oil is added, season with salt and pepper. Store unused vinaigrette in refrigerator. Bring to room temperature and shake well before using. Makes 2 cups.

Layered Mexican Trifle Salad

So this is awesome. It's a lot of work, but it is awesome. Feeds a crowd, looks cool, tastes great. What more can you ask for? I first had this at a party, and then tracked down the recipe - I believe it was originally from Pampered Chef. You can mix it up, but I really like this combo. It's easy to double or whatever is needed, based on the serving dish. The one pictured was MASSIVE, and was basically a triple batch - so much work, and at the last minute! Layered Mexican Trifle Salad I ngredients: Beans: drain, rinse and mix together 1 15 oz. can pinto beans and 1 15 oz. can black beans 1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained (I've also used fresh) 1 large tomato, diced (I usually use several Roma tomatoes) 2 green bell peppers, diced 3 ripe avocadoes, diced and mashed with the juice of 1 lime and salt and pepper to taste 1 large onion, diced (red or white) 2 cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded 2 cups cheddar or...

Skillet Chicken, Broccoli, Ziti & Asiago Cheese

We ALL really love this recipe. This is based on a recipe from the good people at Cooks Illustrated - I am grateful to them for getting my kids to happily eat sundried tomatoes and broccoli! I've also made this in a huge batch and served it family-style for a dinner party (and got to use my giant Pampered Chef Simple Additions square pasta bowl (it's really big), and it was AWESOME). If people could have licked the bowl clean, they might have - there was NOTHING left. Try this, and love it: Chicken, Broccoli, Penne and Asiago Cheese Skillet 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch squares 2 tbsp. vegetable oil (or olive oil - just don't heat that to smoking) 1 medium onion, minced (about 1 cup) 3 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tbsp.) 1/4 tsp. dried oregano 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes 8 oz. ziti or penne (2 /12 cups) 3 c. water 2 c. low-sodium chicken broth 3-4 c. broccoli florets 1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes in oil, rinsed and chop...

Asian-Inspired Slaw

I tried a recipe from the "try it eventually" folder last night for some Asian chicken sliders, and they were decent, but unremarkable. It was still a fruitful effort, however, because I found a super simple, tasty side to serve in the future (although the kids were not fans). I guestimated on the measurements, since I just chopped and added - do what looks right to you. I made about 1/2 of this recipe, since it was just for 2 of us, but you could easily multiply it for a larger crowd, too. Asian-Inspired Slaw 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice 2 tbsp. EVOO 1/2 c. cilantro, minced pinch of kosher salt a few turns of freshly ground black pepper 2 c. red cabbage, shredded 1/2 c. carrot, julienned or grated on the large holes of a box grater 1/2 c. red onion, finely diced (could do thin slices if you prefer) 1/2 c. red bell pepper, julienned or diced You could get crazy here, and add some sliced scallions, toasted sesame seeds, minced jalapeno, garlic, etc. I'll be e...

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