Southwestern Chicken and Spaghetti Squash Salad

Do you have a stomach ache from junk food overload this past week?

I guess it doesn’t help that the two recipes I posted are full of the good stuff. And by good stuff, I clearly mean sugar! Perhaps it’s time we eat a vegetable or something. Just for the day….then tomorrow we can go back to cake and pie! Does that sound like a plan?

Good, because today I have a salad recipe for you. No sugar involved. It’s so addicting that I ate it for both lunch and dinner yesterday. We are going camping this weekend and I am packing up the leftovers to take with us, along with frozen chili, cornbread, beef stew and hot dogs. I may not be a pro camper quite yet, but I do have one thing going for me and that’s my ability to bring the food. I mean…a girls just gotta be prepared. I take no chances with hunger. Or thirst, for that matter. I think two bottles of wine should suffice.

But back to this salad for a minute. Picture layers of grilled chicken, black beans, cabbage, spaghetti squash, bell peppers and cilantro all tossed in a zesty buttermilk dressing. I can’t get enough.

Like any good salad, this one is all about the dressing. This is so good you’ll want to eat it with a spoon! I may or may not have done that last night. It’s also great as a party dip for carrots, snap peas and cherry tomatoes. Pick your poison.

I hope y’all love this salad as much I do!! As much as I enjoy stirring big pots of stews and chilies in the fall, sometimes a hearty salad is a nice break from the heaviness. Plus, it leaves more room for dessert.

I’ll admit, last night when I ate this for dinner by myself, I ate it with a side of gingerbread. Who does that? And because I actually ate the gingerbread with my dinner, I didn’t count is as dessert. Dessert came later….and was more gingerbread. I’m on a roll and cannot be stopped.

Southwestern Chicken and Spaghetti Squash Salad

serves 4

Print this Recipe!

Ingredients:

for salad —

1 small spaghetti squash

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 orange or red bell pepper, sliced thin

1 bunch cilantro, minced

2 cups shredded green cabbage

2 cups thinly sliced cooked chicken breast

1 cup chopped jicama {optional}

avocado for serving

for zesty buttermilk dressing—

1/2 cup well shaken buttermilk

1/4 cup mayonnaise

juice of 1 lime

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cumin

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice your spaghetti squash in half length-wise and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash cut side down on a greased sheet pan and bake for 40 minutes, until very tender. Let squash cool before using a fork to scoop out “spaghetti” and place in a bowl. You can do this step up to three days before you prepare the salad.

Next, make the dressing. Whisk together the buttermilk, mayonnaise, lime juice, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

To prepare the salad, place the cooled spaghetti squash in a large serving bowl. Top with black beans, chicken, bell pepper, shredded green cabbage, cilantro and jicama, if using. Toss all ingredients together well. Drizzle dressing over salad {you may not want/need to use all the dressing}.

Serve salad on plates topped with sliced avocado.

**Assembled salad will stay fresh, without dressing and avocado, for up to four days covered in the fridge. Dressing will stay fresh for up to a week and is also great served as a dip with raw veggies

Time:

active time — 20 minutes

total time — 1.5 hours

 

 

Pin It

Tagged as: chick food