Chicken Quesadilla Salad

Some have requested the recipe for my chicken quesadilla salad so lucky you, I've decided to share!  ;)

My initial motivation to pursue this tasty meal stemmed from my all-time favorite salad at Chili's: The Quesadilla Explosion Salad.

I was craving this fav salad of mine for dinner one night while we were in Texas, an hour away from the nearest Chili's and too cheap to pay to eat out even if it had been in our back yard.  So I started racking my brain for what I could remember in the salad that I loved oh so much... and this is what I created!

Ingredients:

chicken breast

onion

garlic

salt

pepper

crushed red pepper

garlic salt

corn

bell peppers

beans of choice

cilantro

lettuce

shredded cheddar cheese

sour cream

vinaigrette salad dressing

taco seasoning

tortilla strips

I know, seems like a long ingredient list, but it's truly a simple and tasty meal to prepare!

Instructions:

Dice chicken (bite size), onion and garlic and saute in skillet.  Season with salt, pepper, red pepper and garlic salt.  When chicken is cooked through, reduce heat to simmer and add corn, bell peppers (diced) and beans (I'm not a bean fan, but I added it to the recipe because there are beans on my fav salad at Chili's so, you know, if you're a bean person...).  Let simmer until veggies are tender.

{Portions and chicken:veggie ratio is really up to what you prefer... if you like more chicken or more veggies... whatever!}

Meanwhile, mix 2-3 tablespoons (or to taste preference) taco seasoning into vinaigrette salad dressing. {I've tried a few different options and my absolute favorite dressing to use for this is Kraft Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette}

Top shredded lettuce with chicken & veggies then add toppings as desired {cheese, sour cream, dressing, tortilla strips}... Slice a cheese quesadilla into fourths and lay them around the sides of the salad.

Enjoy!

PS, My hubby's grandma has the most amazing recipe for taco seasoning which is what I use, but I can't find the recipe card right now so I linked a rather generic taco seasoning recipe that I've also used before -- it's still good, just not as good as grandma's, of course.  ;)  If there are any specific requests for it, I can post it separately another time.