I like to make a salad that has become a favorite of my heart light. He really enjoys it and we have shared it with a couple of our friends. It has become a favorite of theirs as well. I started making it based on a salad that I loved buying from Zaxby's. You could go and buy one of their chicken strip house salads with any dressings that you wanted along with any extra's that you might want. Being there is no such restaurant that even comes close to that I started creating my own based on theirs. I have since changed a couple of things and added a couple of additional ingredients. Sometimes I don't have access to an ingredient and have to compromise by either doing without it or exchanging it for something else.
So my recipe is based on what I put in it myself and how I make it is my own recipe. Getting salad dressings that I like here is extremely hard so I use mayo because it really makes the salad pop!
Chicken Breast-Bacon Pecan House Salad (Feeds up to 4 people)
1lb Boneless Chicken Breast
8 slices of Bacon
1 Head of Iceberg lettuce
1 ½ Dozen Cherry Tomatoes
2 Carrots
½ Red Bell Pepper
1 Shallots and/or small Onion
2 Boiled Eggs
1 ½ cup Shredded Cheddar or Havarti Cheese
1/3 cup chopped pecans
5 Tbsp Mayo or to taste
Butter and/or Olive Oil
Flour
Coarse Ground Garlic Salt
Croutons
Thaw out boneless chicken breast, rinse and pat dry with paper towel. Season with coarsely ground garlic salt and let it come to room temperature. Should take about 15 minutes.
Flour chicken breast next. Melt butter in a medium sized fry pan and place chicken breast in fry pan. (Or use Olive Oil)
Brown chicken breast on both sides making sure that it is cooked through before taking from fry pan. Let cooked chicken breast rest on paper towels.
Cook Bacon in medium sized fry pan till crispy but do NOT burn it. Drain on paper towel. Boil eggs and then cool under running cold water. Peel eggs and set aside.
Take iceberg lettuce from plastic covering and remove the stem heart from the head of lettuce. DO NOT cut with knife to remove. Do it by hand. After stem heart is removed, place iceberg lettuce in a colander and allow cold water to run over it for a few minutes and then remove and drain.
After it has drained, by hand pull the lettuce apart tearing the leaves by hand to the size for salad that makes it easy to eat. Place in a large boil.
Rinse cherry tomatoes under cool water and remove. Slice tomatoes in half. Put in bowl with lettuce. Clean two carrots and then slice them thinly and put with lettuce as well. Pour pecans in the bowl.
Slice a shallot or a very small onion into very thin slices and put in bowl.Cut bell pepper in ½ and clean one side of it and thinly slice and put in bowl. Peel eggs and then slice them and place in bowl.
Take two large spoons and gently mix all the ingredients so far together.
Take the flat side of a knife and crunch up the bacon and pour into bowl. Mix again with spoons.
Add mayo to taste. Gently blend in the mayo.
Shred a small amount of Chedder cheese to use as a topping.Slice chicken breast in thin slices. Place slices on a small place for serving. Place a bowl of croutons on table for serving as well.
Serve salad with breast and enjoy!
(I used to work in a restaurant and there was a cook that worked there and he knew everything or seemed like he did and he told me that the reason lettuce gets brown edges on it is because it was cut with a knife. Metal causes a reaction apparently with the leaves and I believe he is right on that. He told me to always run it under cold water and then let it drain and then pull apart to the size needed for salad. The cold water seems to keep the lettuce plump and lively while waiting to be eaten. I always do this with my lettuce and it never turns brown it is always crunchy and tasty.
