BBQ Chicken Salad with Creamy BBQ Cilantro Lime Dressing

Oh my lands. This salad is soooooo yummy!!! I’m talking: Y.UMMY. The dressing is awesome. I used black pepper mayo, so I kept the cayenne to a minimum – even still it packed a pretty big punch. The one problem I would say I had with this salad was, THERE WASN’T ENOUGH!!!! It was that good people. It was that good.

Source: Adapted from Erins Food Files

2 chicken breasts
1/4-1/2 cup of barbecue sauce to marinade (optional, but recommended)
1 head bibb lettuce, washed & chopped
1/2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lime
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 can corn
salt & pepper to taste

Dressing:
2/3 cup mayonnaise, light or regular
1/3 cup buttermilk, sour cream, or nonfat greek yogurt
2 Tablespoons milk
Small handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 cup BBQ sauce

Combine olive oil, lime juice, garlic, cumin, chili powder, black beans and corn. Add salt and pepper to taste. ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Add beans & corn, season with salt & pepper. Store in refrigerator until ready to use. Marinate chicken in BBQ sauce about 6 hours. Preheat grill, and cook chicken until done. Remove from heat and let “rest” for about 5-10 minutes. Chicken can even be made ahead of time & refrigerated. For the dressing, combine all the ingredients together and whisk (or shake, if using a jar) vigorously to combine. You could also run this through a blender to make it even more smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Assemble lettuce, black bean & corn succotash, and top with chicken. Drizzle with additional BBQ sauce, followed by the dressing.

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