My husband hates salad. No, it’s more than that- he claims that all leafy greens make him sick to his stomach. I swear that it is psychosomatic but he insists he is truly allergic or something.

One time I made him a smoothie and put a giant handful of spinach in it, disguised by frozen blueberries and strawberries. I waited with bated breath as he drank it down. When no gastrointestinal emergencies occurred, I gleefully announced that I’d just proved that he wasn’t “allergic” to leafy greens. He shrugged and said he still was; he could just eat them in a smoothie for some reason. But salads are still unacceptable. Mmmhmm… Sounds logical.

So. We don’t eat a lot of dinner salads around here. Which makes me sad, because I love me a big ol’ plate o’ salad with all of the goodies.

Recently I decided that he can just eat all of the toppings for a salad on a tortilla or something, because I want my salads!

And I have happily welcomed my very favorite salad back into the dinner rotation.

Barbecue Chicken Chopped Salad

This is a copycat of California Pizza Kitchen’s Barbecue Chicken Chopped salad. A salad so good that I sometimes choose it over their pizza, which is very shocking. Because I love pizza. And I really really love this salad.

Making a salad basically just entails throwing all of the listed ingredients into the bowl, but there are a few things that really make this salad stand out.

A few notes

• Jicama! Have you ever had it? It adds a fantastic crunch and nutty flavor to the salad. I love them! I would describe it as almost a cross between an apple and a potato and a carrot. But that’s kind of a scary description. I promise they are tasty. The salad is totally delicious without it if you can’t find one or just don’t feel like experimenting with strange vegetables.  If you want to give it a whirl, here’s how to you prepare it:

Grab yourself a jicama! This is a big fat one because I was making salad for my family and another family. But try to find a smaller one- they are usually tastier and you only need a cup or so of the cubes.

• Using a very sharp knife or a vegetable peeler, peel the jicama.
  
• Cut the jicama in half. A serrated knife works best.

• Slice into 1/4-1/2 inch slices

• Lay each slice down flat and cut each slice into matchsticks

• Rotate and chop into cubes

• If your jicama is a big’n, leave some strips as matchsticks before dicing, and dip into hummus or ranch! You can also shred it for a slaw, toss it in a stir fry, or put it in a salsa! When my husband lived in Mexico, they served jicama with lime and chili powder.

• Cube your cheese rather than shred it. Grated cheese tends to just get lost in salads, and little cubes hold their own better.

• We smoked some chicken tenderloins on our Traeger for this salad, brushing with barbecue sauce for the last 5 minutes. You can also toss any cooked chicken in barbecue sauce, and it will still be tasty! Grilled chicken is obviously the most delicious.

• You can lay out the lettuce and all of the toppings in little bowls and let everyone dress up their salad how they like it.

• Or, you can serve it my favorite way, which is arranging each topping in a little pie section on top of the lettuce, with the grilled chicken on top. So pretty!

Serve with a little drizzle of extra barbecue sauce, and ranch! I like the Lofthouse Farms ranch in the refrigerated section, if I’m using store bought. And if I remember, I love to make this homemade ranch.  It is so easy and soooo delicious.

• If you wait to add the avocado and tortilla strips until it’s time to eat, this is a great salad to have prepped for the week. The leftovers are delicious, and the jicama stays nice and crisp. I’ve been eating it all week, and look forward to lunch each day!

How do you feel about main dish salads? Are the men in your household opposed? I love to have some girlfriends over for lunch and make all of the girly food my heart desires. And my heart always desires this salad.