BBQ Chopped Salad (Stonefire Grill Taste-a-Like)

I am SO excited to share this recipe with you!! :) It is superfluously tasty and the shopping list fills up your produce drawer. It's on the healthier side and totally great for summer because of the savory barbecue flavors and fresh, sweet veggies.
Plus, Stonefire Grill has an amazing BBQ Chopped Salad and this tastes a lot like it. I highly recommend their establishment.

This recipe is definitely one to save!

Ingredients:
1/2 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
1/2 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 cup cooked and drained black beans (canned) (Optional. My family's not a fan, so they got left out.)
2 ears fresh corn, cooked and corn kernels removed (I absolutely love fresh corn from the cob and if I would change something about this recipe next time, I would add more, maybe another 1/2 head?)
3/4 cup chopped red cabbage
3/4 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup shredded cheese (Recipe called for Jack, but I only had a Mexican blend in the fridge and it worked fairly well; I would have preferred Jack though. I might add more cheese next time, also)
1 large tomato, chopped (I used about half the tomato, with the rest on the side to add if desired)
about 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken, tossed with 1 1/2 tsp BBQ sauce (Best part.)
3 Tbsp green onions, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup crumbled tortilla chips/strips
1 cup bottled ranch dressing
2-3 Tbsp bottled BBQ sauce, to taste (I used Lucille's Original and it was great)


Directions:
(The recipe dictates how to do it so it looks nice and fancy, but in the end it'll get mixed up anyway. It's a salad, is the how-to really needed?)

1. Fill a salad bowl with a mixture of chopped lettuces. Place the beans, corn, cabbage, carrots, cheese, and tomato in sections atop lettuce in wedges like a wheel. Pile chicken in center and chill until serving time.
2. Just before serving, sprinkle with green onions, cilantro, and tortilla chips.
3. Toss with ranch mixed with BBQ sauce.

Makes about 5 servings. (Recipe said 8, but 4 people ate almost all of it)


Thanks to Stonefire Grill and Natalie Haughton of the LA Daily News for the recipe!

Summer!! Gooey Lemon Bars

Happy summer everybody!!! :D I know that it won't "officially" turn summer until the 20th, but it sure feels like the toasty season to me!

Well, summer means diet in my house, and my family isn't too keen on having bucketloads of desserts in the fridge. So I only get to bake when we have company.
*Notice my last two dessert posts were caused by company*

In search of something to celebrate the summer months, I remembered lemon bars! It's been AGES since my last lemon bar and I was super excited to make them. I found this recipe from the Blue-Eyed Bakers, which is ironic because I made this with a good friend of mine, Jeni!

^That's Jeni. On the right.

^That's her too. She's cool like that.

Oh the ironic part is that we are bakers, as seen above, and we both happen to have very blue eyes. (*o*)

Baking with friends is anywhere from 55-86% more fun.

So lemon bars. These turned out pretty stinkin' good! I was wary at first, but when refrigerated for a few hours, these turned out great! They have a fairly thick crust, which balances out the sweet/sour very nicely.
But be warned: they are very ooey. And very gooey. And very lemony.

Now on to the recipe....

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 eggs, room temperature

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 lemon's worth of zest

1 cup lemon juice

Powdered sugar for dusting (Yes, confectioner's sugar works, too, for all you fancy folk)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

2. To make the crust, mix butter, 2 c flour, powdered sugar, and salt with a mixer. (Note: after awhile, it will be plain to see that it's not mixing very well. At that point, feel free to smush with hands.)

3. Press into the bottom of the baking pan in an even layer and bake for about 17 minutes, until crust is just barely golden. Leave the oven on and allow crust to cool while you prepare the topping.

4. Whisk eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and 1 c flour until combined. Pour over cooled crust and bake for about 28 minutes, until topping is just set. (Yes, it will be a little gooey.)

5. Cool and dust with powdered sugar.

Thanks to the Blue-Eyed Bakers, recipe adapted from theirs.