Make a Quick-Fix Salad

(Family Features) A great salad is always a welcome choice. Bean salads are perennial favorites, and this simple, satisfying, prize-winning recipe won’t disappoint.

To recreate a winning recipe from the recent Seneca Foods Mystery Box recipe contest, begin with a pantry staple, READ 3 or 4 Bean Salad. Smart cooks keep a couple of cans or single-serve cups in the refrigerator, ready to serve as a side dish or to kick start a salad, like this Chipotle Chicken and Bean Quinoa Salad.

The ready-to-eat combo of green, wax and kidney beans is delicious mixed with cooked quinoa, chicken and a subtly spicy, smoky chipotle dressing accented with lime juice and cilantro.  Spooned into lettuce cups to serve, it’s the easiest main dish ever, and it’s a tasty way to use rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled chicken.

Double the recipe if needed or if opting for a single serving, it couldn’t be simpler. Start with an individual serving cup of salad and decrease dressing ingredients as the recipe directs.

Look for other seasonal salad ideas and recipes at READsalads.com.

Chipotle Chicken and Bean Quinoa Salad Cups

Prep time: 25 minutes

Servings: 4

• 1          can (15 ounces) READ 3 or 4 Bean Salad
  
• 2          tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
  
• 1          tablespoon adobo sauce (from canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce)
  
• 1          teaspoon Dijon mustard
  
• 1/4       teaspoon kosher salt
  
• 1/8       teaspoon black pepper
  
• 3          tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1/4       cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
  
• 1 ½      cups cooked quinoa
  
• 1          cup diced cooked chicken
  
• 1/4       cup thinly sliced green onions
  
• 1          chipotle pepper, minced (from canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce)
  
• 4          leaves Bibb lettuce

1. Drain bean salad; reserve 2 tablespoons liquid.
2. To prepare dressing: In small bowl, whisk together reserved liquid, lime juice, adobo sauce, mustard, salt and pepper. Whisk in oil until completely combined. Stir in cilantro; set aside.
3. In medium bowl, combine bean salad, quinoa, chicken, onions and minced chipotle pepper. Add dressing; toss gently. If chilled salad is desired, cover and refrigerate 2 hours, or as long as overnight.
4. To serve, divide bean salad mixture equally among lettuce cups. 

Note: To make salad for one, drain single-serve cup of bean salad; reserve 1 1/2 teaspoons of liquid and place bean salad in small bowl. Add 1/2 cup cooked quinoa, 1/4 cup diced cooked chicken, 1 tablespoon sliced green onion and 1 teaspoon minced chipotle pepper. Whisk together reserved bean liquid, 1 1/2 teaspoons lime juice, 3/4 teaspoon adobo sauce, 1/4 teaspoon mustard and salt and pepper, as desired. Whisk in 2 teaspoons olive oil. Add dressing to bean mixture and toss. Spoon into 1 Bibb lettuce leaf.

Nutritional information per serving: 300 calories; 14 g protein; 28 g carbohydrate; 14 g total fat; 390 mg sodium; 30 mg cholesterol; 4 g dietary fiber; 3 mg iron; 0.11 mg thiamin;

590 IU vitamin A; 7 mg vitamin C.