Chicken BLT salad

Dinner last night was this simple, delicious, chicken BLT salad from Cooking Light.  I'll emphasize the word simple because I took a few shortcuts that greatly reduced the number of ingredients AND time/effort required for this recipe.  The original recipe is here if you want to make your own dressing and use a buttermilk coating for the chicken.  OR, you can drive down Easy Street and use ranch dressing for both, which is what we did. The original recipe also does the salad wedge-style with iceberg, but we're romaine fans so we did a chopped version.  Robert and I both loved this one, and I know it will be on the menu again soon! 

CHICKEN BLT SALAD

Yield: 6 salads

Ingredients:

Ranch dressing, for coating chicken and dressing the salad (we used Naturally Fresh jalapeno ranch, which I highly recommend.  Found in the refrigerated section in produce)

3/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp kosher salt

3 Tbsp canola oil

Iceberg or romaine lettuce

2 cups chopped plum tomatoes

3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425°.

Prepare 2 shallow dishes with ranch dressing and panko. Dip chicken in dressing, then dredge in the panko. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Add chicken. Cook 4 minutes; turn over. Bake at 425° for 14 minutes or until done. Let chicken stand 10 minutes; slice crosswise.

Divide lettuce between 6 plates. Top each serving with chicken, tomato, and tablespoons dressing. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon.