Desperate BBQ Chicken Salad

This Desperate BBQ Chicken Salad recipe is a great choice when you’re short on time or for a quick meal after you’ve been working all day, don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and don’t want to cave in to “take out”.

I call it the Desperate BBQ Chicken Salad because the seasoning I use is called the Desperate Husband’s BBQ Citrus Rub Seasoning.

This is equally delicious on seafood as well. I’ve used it on Salmon many times along with the Desperate Husbands BBQ brand of Black Raspberry BBQ Sauce. It’s delicious!

When I first tried this line of seasonings the poor Desperate Husband himself was promoting his own line at HyVee,

I had so many questions. . . why was it called Desperate Husband’s? Was he himself in some kind of desperate situation? Had he been down sized when the economy crashed and now desperate to support his family? Or was his wife a terrible cook forcing him to come up with an edible solution for a tasty dinner out of sheer desperation?

Whatever the reason, I didn’t ask. But if you go to the above link, you can read all about him and his line of products.

Today I didn’t have that particular BBQ sauce but the one I used, Sweet Baby Ray’s, is delicious on chicken as well. But, really, whatever BBQ sauce you like best will work with this.

I had 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts that I had put in the fridge to thaw the night before.

The chicken had originally been a whole fryer that was on sale for $0.99 a pound. I cut it up and divided the pieces into separate packages to freeze since my daughter and I could never eat a whole chicken in one meal. And there are so many things you can do with a whole chicken that you can’t when you just buy the cutup version. Like, for instance, homemade stock! But, not today, I’m in a hurry!

I just coated with chicken in a little olive oil and seasoned both sides of the chicken with the citrus seasoning. Then put it under the broiler for about 15 minutes turning halfway through the cooking time. The time will vary depending on the size of the chicken breast.

Normally, I would use my garden fresh Romaine and Tomatoes but, unfortunately, it’s February, and not in season yet. So I was forced to buy this at the grocery store. Although one day, I will get the ambition to grow lettuce year round.

While the chicken was in the oven, I threw the salad together.

I washed and sliced a few grape tomatoes In half, cubed half of an avocado, and grated a little fresh parmesan cheese. and tossed it all together with the romaine and seasoned the salad with freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt.

Once the chicken was done I put a thin coating of the BBQ sauce over the top and sliced the chicken into thin slices and placed it on top the salad.

If you want additional dressing on the salad, you can top it with your favorite. I used just a touch of Caesar Dressing and I added a section of a french baguette on the side.

This took no more than 20 minutes to complete and is a lot better for you than picking up “take out” on the way home!

Enjoy!

Desperate BBQ Chicken Salad:

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
Olive oil
Desperate Husband’s Citrus Seasoning
BBQ sauce (about 2-3 tsp per chicken breast)
Romaine lettuce (Use your garden fresh romaine in season)
1 avocado (Oh how I wish I grew avocado’s!)
Cherry or grape tomatoes halved (Also garden fresh in season)
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Extra salad dressing of choice on the side if desired

Drizzle a little olive oil to coat chicken breasts. Season with Citrus Seasoning. Broil Chicken for a bout 15 minutes depending on the size turning over half way through cooking. When cooked through top with BBQ sauce.

Meanwhile for the salad. Wash and chop Romaine lettuce, cube avocado, halve the tomatoes and toss together. Top with Sliced chicken breast and parmesan cheese with additional salad dressing on the side if desired.