Peach-Tomato Chipotle Salad
SALAD – some people view it as just a boring start to a meal while others look at salad as the whole meal. Most days, a salad is my go-to lunch. There are also many a day when salads make an appearance on our dinner table as the main attraction. Using a variety of mix-ins keeps your salad fresh and not boring at all – here we have a salad which has some summer fresh produce as well as a healthy dose of canned tomatoes, since the local ones are not quite ready yet and canned tomatoes taste fresh all year round!
Here is the description of this salad taken right from RedPack’s Website: “Fresh peaches are paired with southwest grilled chicken, Redpack Diced tomatoes and sliced red onions over a fresh bed of crunchy romaine. All topped off with a smoky chipotle ranch dressing for a great meal starter for any weeknight meal.”
Although I am a HUGE Salad-as-a-Meal Lover, I decided to go completely vegetarian with this one. Feel free to throw in some grilled chicken as they suggest, but I found it to be quite filling as I have it written here, and was not missing the flavor or substance from the chicken. I like things with a little bit of a kick, so I really enjoyed playing with the spice level to get it just right for me in that chipotle-ranch dressing we are mixing up for the salad. If you like it more mild – go for it! If you local store sells a pre-made chipotle-ranch dressing that you like, go for that as well. The recipe I have listed for you below is really just an outline which you can play with and adapt however you want.
- 1 fresh peach, pitted
- 1/2 of a 28 can of RedPack Diced (or petite diced) Tomatoes OR a14.5 oz can
- 1 large romaine heart, chopped
- approx 1/4 of a small red onion, thinly sliced & cut in half
- 2 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing
- 1 teaspoon (or about 10 “bangs” of the bottle to get it out) [url href=”Melinda’s Chipotle Habanero Pepper Sauce, 5 Ounce
“]Chipotle Sauce[/url]
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Cut your peaches into thin slices (and cut in half). Then place them in the bottom of a large salad bowl. Add your drained/rinsed tomatoes, red onion, romaine, and salt & pepper
- Mix your dressing together in a mini-bowl to combine flavors and adjust as needed before topping your salad. Pour dressing over the salad and mix well.
- Serve & Enjoy. This works well if you dump all your ingredients (NO salt to avoid a limp salad) into a plastic bowl and keep your dressing separate. You can then pack it all up for your lunch and when ready to eat just dump on the dressing, replace your plastic lid and shake it up!
NOTE: I have received products from RedPack in exchange for this post, but all opinions posted are mine.
ALSO – have you entered the Toss in the Flavor Contest to win a Gourmet Picnic Basket from RedPack yet!? It is valued at over $350 and ready for all of your summer salad & picnicking needs!
#TossInTheFlavor #RedpackRecipes
And I leave you with this, Today’s Question of the Day…When is your favorite time to have a salad?