This week has been a week, you all. From my laptop falling on my phone and cracking the entire screen, to having a to-do list pages long, I simply cannot wait until Friday. Tomorrow!! When I’m having one of those weeks where I need some shortcuts in the kitchen, one of my favorite ways to save time and stress is buying a rotisserie chicken. There are so many things you can do with it from serving it with sides to putting it on a salad to tossing it in soup. Rotisserie chicken is one of the things I miss most from regular grocery stores when I shop at Trader Joe’s.

While I was grabbing groceries the other day, I grabbed a chicken to shred for a colorful salad – sliced oranges, bell pepper, Persian cucumbers, slivered almond, green onion and cilantro. The colors looked so beautiful that I had to pause for a photoshoot! When thinking about which dressing would compliment it well, I remembered Chosen Foods had sent me their spicy sesame oil. I added a splash of it to my usual combo of EVOO, honey, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and loved the flavor combination. While the heat was mild, you could also add in an extra squeeze of Sriracha to take it to the next level. Plus, the addition of poppy seeds added a pretty contrast to the colors!

You could also jazz this salad up with crispy wontons, some salty and crumbly feta cheese or even swap out the romaine lettuce with a cabbage slaw for extra crunch. I love flexibility and creativity with salads, so work with what you have on hand and let me know what combination you choose! It’s incredibly crunchy, fresh, light and makes me feel like summer is around the corner.

Until then, happy almost Friday. Cheers to the Apple store Genius bar (please fix my phone!!), new Food Network Snapchat Discover recipes coming up, crossing things off the to-do list and sleeping in this weekend!

Love food. Love self. Love life.
Gabriela

Chicken Salad with Sweet and Spicy Poppy Seed Dressing

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Recipe by Gabriela Rodiles

Servings

4

servings

Total time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 bag romaine lettuce

• 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

• 3 Persian cucumbers, sliced

• 1 orange or yellow bell pepper, diced

• 1 orange, peeled and sliced into chunks

• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro

• 2 green onions, sliced thinly

• Dressing

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 tablespoon spicy sesame oil

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper

• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds

• Optional: Sriracha for extra spice

Directions

• Divide toppings (excluding lettuce) between 3-4 medium sized containers to meal prep, depending on size of salad desired.
• Pour all dressing ingredients in a small jar and shake. Taste and adjust to liking.
• Each day for a meal, take a few handfuls of lettuce and place in a big bowl. Top with a container of toppings and pour 1/3 of dressing over top. Stir to combine and enjoy!